


Lois, Clark Kent is Superman.

by jacksonja



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-18 05:25:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16111760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacksonja/pseuds/jacksonja
Summary: Penny was building engines as a kid so why didn't she keep up with that hobby?





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> AU that isn't trying to be canon, just having fun with Big Bang's toys while they go into their last season.

Knock, knock, knock, Penny? 

Knock, knock, knock, Penny? 

Knock, knock, knock, Penny?

‘What’s up, buttercup?’ Penny said a bit drowsily.

‘You should brush your teeth before bed. Dental hygiene should not be neglected.’ Sheldon could smell what had to be last night’s chardonnay and a chimichanga.

‘That’s what you woke me for on a Saturday, Sheldon?’

‘No, I woke you to see if you would drive me to the train exhibition at the LA Convention Center. It is supposed to be quite remarkable. There are quite a number of displays and rather exciting collector’s pieces to see. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. They even have a replica of Richard Trevithick’s first steam engine.’ The Cornish inventor’s revolutionary steam engine, alone, was reason enough to go.

‘Trains, you woke me for trains?’ Penny ushered her quirky and at times like this exasperating neighbor into her apartment. ‘I suppose I can take you if you can help me with the chemistry class I’m taking. They want an experiment creating an exodermic relation, something like that.’ Penny hoped Sheldon was in a mood to be helpful instead of sarcastic.

Sheldon looked like he was in pain for a moment. ‘I will assume they want some type of explosive reaction?’

‘Yeah, I figured Leonard’s crazy bomb stuff would be a good example.’ Penny invited Sheldon in for some tea.

The fastidious Texan shivered as he cleared his favored spot of last night’s clothing judging by the similarity of smell on the clothes and Penny’s breathe. ‘I believe the term you want is an exothermic reaction, Penny. Wouldn’t it make more sense to ask Leonard about his dismal attempt at rocket fuel?’

‘Only, if I want him trying to ask me out on another date. I have no interest in trying any Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Epsilonging trial runs.’ Penny brought Sheldon his tea and sat herself down on the couch with her coffee.

Sheldon laughed at Penny’s pun. ‘Well done, college has managed to teach you some Greek. Was this from cruising frat row?’ Sheldon wondered where Penny had been last night since she arrived much later than she normally would have.

‘Sheldon, if you want to cruise to the train exhibit, you better put some cruise control on your life observations of me.’ Penny rolled her eyes at Sheldon’s fascination for her night life. ‘Why don’t you try coming out with me some time since my nights interest you so much? You might even manage to have some fun.’

‘I believe our ideas of fun are quite different, Penny, but in the interest of going to the exhibit, I will refrain from elaborating. As for the formula to that ridiculous experiment, it is simple enough but it is dangerously unstable.’ Sheldon hoped there wasn’t some kind of actual lab work with the stuff.

‘Oh, I got that from how you talked about it. It’s just an example for a paper, I’m not about to touch something like that. When do you want to go to the exhibit?’

+++

Sheldon and Penny came back from the exhibit late in the afternoon. They got to the fourth floor and Penny invited Sheldon into 4B for a quick spaghetti dinner.

‘I would love to. It would make an excellent end to a wonderful day.’ Sheldon sat on the couch so he could use the coffee table to get out some of his finds from the seller’s room. He was especially delighted with the model of Travithick’s engine that Penny had won for him. ‘I really cannot thank you enough for this present. I had no idea you could assemble an unknown engine from scratch so quickly.’ Penny had been in a competition to assemble an unknown model train the fastest among 30 competitors. She had done it in much less than half the allotted 30 minutes. It had set a new record for the competition, eleven minutes and four seconds.

Penny shrugged her shoulders. ‘It wasn’t any harder than a tractor, Sheldon. I wasn’t kidding when I said I put one together when I was twelve. Besides, you inspire me, sweetie.’

They made the dinner together so they could eat and talk about her chemistry class. Penny asked if there was some way to stabilize the reaction and make it a more easily regulated reaction. Sheldon thought that would be an interesting problem to work out since he had no immediate work to do, tomorrow, it would be an amusing way to while the free time.

‘It surprises me that you have such enthusiasm for chemistry and your other classes. You sounded very disinterested in such pursuits in the past.’

‘I guess it’s being around you guys and besides that school in Nebraska wasn’t very good so it was hard to be anything but bored by everything, except the guys. The football team was much more interesting.’

Sheldon rolled his eyes at the flirtatious way Penny recalled her interests. ‘Was this interest on the field or off?’

‘Both, would you like to find out, honey?’ Penny batted her eyes and leaped on Sheldon and started tickling him.

Sheldon was thrown by the flirtatious tackle and found himself pinned by Penny in a tickle fight.

‘Stop, stop, ah, stop, you treacherous vixen!’ Sheldon caught his breath from Penny’s teasing and felt strangely empty when she got off him. He got back to the chemistry before he could get confounded by the singular feelings Penny easily made him aware of ever since they first met.

‘I think I have an idea how it might be stabilized but it would still be very powerful, it might even have practical applications, hmm.’ Sheldon got excited by the conundrum Penny had posed to him.

‘That sounds like the bomb. Hey, the spaghetti is ready, let’s eat.’ Penny got some tea for Sheldon and promised him just a single glass of her favorite chardonnay, tonight.

+++

Leonard came home to find Sheldon working at his usual white board but on that old rocket fuel formula instead of his usual research. ‘Hey, buddy, what’s up with that disaster?’

‘Penny and I were discussing her chemistry class and she posed an interesting challenge, could the fuel be stabilized? It is an intriguing problem.’

Leonard looked at the board but it wasn’t on his mind. ‘What is Penny interested in chemistry for? She’s an actress, a wannabe actress at that.’

‘It’s wanting to be an actress that has encouraged her to expand her capacities. It is something to be encouraged, something which you seldom did, Leonard.’

‘Hey, I encouraged Penny! That’s all I did and what did I get for all that effort, a break up.’ Leonard snorted in frustration.

‘You encouraged her to give up her psychics and astrology; you encouraged her to abandon school because she had too many eager lab partners. Basically, you encouraged her to give up anything that took time away from you and your interests, in particular, your interest in coitus with her.’ Sheldon kept working without looking at Leonard. This conversation had replayed many times in Sheldon’s mind when Leonard was bemoaning his break up with their neighbor which was daily.

‘Hey, you ragged on that stuff plenty, man.’ Leonard could never figure out why Penny put up with Sheldon’s crap but would go ballistic on him.

‘It was always quite different. I don’t believe in such hokum and explained to Penny my reasons many times. I never told her she shouldn’t enjoy it out of her own interest just as she has never discouraged my interest in Battlestar Galactica, for example, in spite of having no interest in it and finding it quite boring herself.’ Sheldon had a hard time believing he was explaining emotional reactions to Leonard but Leonard was more myopic about his own motivations than his eyesight was capable of seeing well beyond his own hands.

+++

The next week, Penny drove Sheldon to work in the morning. She walked in to his office to pick up the fuel formula that Sheldon had finished. They talked about it for a while and Penny ran through the paper she was writing to look for anything she might have overlooked.

‘This is excellent work, Penny. I am sure you will get an outstanding grade on this. How is something like this supposed to help you be an actress, though?’

‘It’s, not, Moonpie, but stuff like this is useful in special effects. I keep getting crap roles so I figured I might try some other things. The last show I tried out for, the costume department folks saw my Penny Blossoms online and asked if I could do some jewelry designs for them. It made me think I should try some other stuff besides acting.’

Sheldon nodded at the wisdom of that. ‘That is superb lateral thinking, Penny, and only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie.’

Penny smirked at that and gave Sheldon a hug good bye. Since it was new comic day and she didn’t have a shift at the Cheese Cake Factory, she offered to take Sheldon to the comic store after work. Sheldon agreed and suggested they get Thai food together before returning to the apartment for Halo night. He wanted to do something extra for the wonderful train she’d won for him.

‘That sound’s great, Sheldon, I’d love that.’ She gave Sheldon a warm hug that he found himself returning very unexpectedly. Penny went out but returned about a half hour later.

‘Hey, Sheldon, I found this quiz in the parking lot. I tried figuring out some of the questions but it’s over my head. It looks like a lot of physics and engineering questions for some kind of game, maybe? Maybe, you guys would like to try it?’

Sheldon looked down the list of questions and a number of them were intriguing challenges. ‘This is quite a fascinating discovery. It will make an excellent lunchtime conundrum for the table, thank you!’

Penny threw out a bit of a challenge. ‘I built that train in less than twelve minutes; do you think you guys could answer all those questions in twelve minutes?’

Sheldon looked at the list, physics, ballistics, chemistry, engineering, and metallurgy nothing that Sheldon and the guys couldn’t handle. ‘I believe we can as a team, yes. What do I win when we succeed?’

‘Pretty sure of yourself? I’ll buy you the comics of your choice, today, Sheldon, and I’ll throw in one spaceship model for you. You have to film the whole quiz being done.’

Sheldon liked the sound of Penny’s terms. ‘Agreed.’

Penny gave Sheldon a quick kiss on the cheek and ran out with a happy good bye and good luck.

+++

The guys finished the quiz in eleven and a half minutes. Sheldon texted Penny with the video file for her perusal and said she could pick him up for his victory shopping at 5pm. Penny texted back with a smiley face and a kiss emoji to say she’d be there.

‘I will be going to the comic store with Penny this evening so I will not need a ride Leonard.’ Sheldon got up to return to his office with the quiz to give to Penny.

‘You guys are spending a lot of time together, what’s up with that, Sheldon?’ Leonard’s jealousy was obvious even to the Texan.

‘We are spending no more time together than we usually do. We have always enjoyed each other’s company even before you started dating Penny. Apart from attempts to have sex with her, you rarely spent any time with Penny, unlike me. I enjoy spending time with her for herself not what she can provide as a partner for coitus.’

Leonard growled but Sheldon walked away before he could take exception to Sheldon’s comment.

‘Wow, Sheldon’s like a new man, lately.’ Howard was impressed by the way the Shelbot defended Penny so readily.

‘Yeah, dude, do you think Sheldon and Penny are a thing, now?’ Raj had speculated privately when that might happen.

Leonard gagged at that. ‘They can’t be a thing, I called dibs on her.’

‘I don’t know, he doesn’t sound like his usual Vulcan self. And what is with these quizzes and chemistry things he’s doing lately? If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’s had that lab accident and he’s building some kind of doomsday machine.’ Howard was curious because that list of questions did imply a few scary possibilities involving bombs and rockets.

‘Maybe he’s just helping Penny with her classes? He keeps finding this stuff with her.’ Raj had taken note that Sheldon was always working on this stuff with Penny so school work seemed the likely reason.

‘Penny using stuff like that quiz? Come on, we’re talking about a z-list actress one step away from being a porn star with that Serial Apeist thing.’

‘Dude, that’s low.’ Raj picked up his lunch and said he was going to finish eating in his office.

Howard chided Leonard; too, ‘You say porn star like it’s a bad thing. What’s wrong with you?’ Howard picked up his lunch and called to Raj that he’d be joining him.

+++

The following weeks were filled with discussion about a UFO spotted in the Pasadena hills. There was speculation that it was a secret test flight of something from JPL. At the apartment, Howard wasn’t so sure since they didn’t have security there for flight tests to stay hidden and something like that would be tested at someplace more secure like an air force base. Raj thought it might be some kind of missile test instead of a plane. The flights were all very short and whatever the object was it was too small to stay on radar accurately. Leonard thought it might be some kind of drone since it stayed fairly low and easily dropped from radar screens. Sheldon refused to speculate thinking the whole thing was probably just a hoax.

‘Come on, there have been too many sightings for it to be a hoax. Even JPL is curious since they have confirmed radar sightings to the press.’ Howard wasn’t buying a hoax angle. The thing was too fast for some home built rocket for it to be a hoax. Raj was with Howard as was Leonard.

‘What would be the use of buzzing around Pasadena? Is someone trying out an air born pizza delivery service?’ Sheldon felt the flights couldn’t serve any purpose since they were too short to serve a use and too irregular in timing and always at night. Hardly, a good time for observation of experimental results.

Sheldon felt he’d spent enough time on fruitless speculations and went to bed.

‘I have a crazy thought, what if it’s Sheldon?’ Howard looked earnestly at his pals. ‘Look at the facts, he did all that rocket fuel stuff, he got us to do that crazy quiz of science, and he keeps going all over the place with Penny? I know they are friends but she wouldn’t be driving Sheldon around everywhere unless Sheldon was doing something big and she’d never ask questions about Sheldon’s science stuff like we would.’

Leonard laughed at that. ‘Come on, you think Sheldon is building some kind of secret rocket system?’

Raj thought about it some more and weighed the idea. ‘What do we know about Sheldon after he goes to bed? No one goes in his room. He could go out the window and no one would ever know or suspect. And, whatever it is, it always flies at night after Sheldon’s bedtime.’

Leonard looked at his friends in disbelief. ‘You guys are crazy. Sheldon building secret rockets?’

Howard nodded. ‘That’s a guy who was building real laser weapons and a working nuclear pile before he was ten.’

+++

The following morning Sheldon got up to watch Doctor Who promptly at 6am to prepare for its 6:15 start time. While getting ready, his keen Vulcan hearing heard a staggered walk on the fourth floor steps and some colorful curses from Penny. He put down his cereal to see what was wrong with his neighbor. Penny was limping heavily favoring her right leg.

‘Penny, what has happened to you? Surely, you should be going to a hospital in this condition, not climbing four flights of stairs.’ Sheldon helped Penny up the last flight coaxing her to go back down.

‘It’s fine, Sheldon. I was out clubbing and just turned my ankle a bit. It’s just tender going up this many stairs.’ Penny took Sheldon’s arm gratefully. ‘Isn’t this Doctor Who time for you?’

‘Yes, but the show doesn’t start for another seven minutes. Perhaps, you can come in and watch it with me and I can put some ice on your ankle?’ Sheldon held out his free hand to the open 4A doorway.

Penny thought about it and figured it was a good idea. ‘OK, Sheldon, if I can get a bowl of whatever you’re eating. I’m starved.’

‘Of course, let’s get you on the couch and your feet elevated.’

‘Oh, honey, you do know how to sweet talk a girl.’ Penny teased Sheldon and gave his tummy a rub.

Sheldon rolled his eyes at Penny’s flirting and got her settled on the couch with a pillow to elevate her injured foot more along with an ice pack. He got another bowl of cereal for his hungry neighbor and they got down to the Doctor’s latest adventure. Sheldon did notice that Penny’s breath didn’t smell like wine which was odd after a night of clubbing. He hoped it was a sign she was cutting back on the amount of alcohol she was imbibing.

Leonard got up just as the end credits were finishing and was surprised to see Penny. ‘Hey, Penny, you’re over early, today.’

‘Sheldon invited me in for Doctor Who.’ Penny leaned into Sheldon and gave him a hug.

Leonard looked at the two and squinted his eyes with a hint of jealousy. ‘When did you two start being Doctor Who fans together?’

Sheldon sighed in resignation having to explain the obvious to his roommate. ‘Ever since Penny came up the stairs with the injured ankle that is elevated and being iced on the table as we speak. Perhaps, you should have your morning coffee before trying to engage in conversation?’

‘What? Penny you should get to a hospital if your ankle is like that. I can drive you right now.’ Leonard started to head for his room to get dressed.

‘That’s fine, Sheldon is a great doctor. I just needed to get off it for a while.’ Penny got up and felt fairly steady while taking a few deliberate steps. ‘Just the same, would you mind coming over and helping set me up with a little more ‘elevation’, Moonpie?’

Sheldon snorted at the bawdy way Penny made that sound. ‘Only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie, Mae West, and I will be glad to help.’

Leonard looked nonplussed at the banter between Sheldon and Penny and grumbled his way over to the coffee maker.

Sheldon and Penny went back to 4B where Penny wanted to get to bed. Sheldon helped her off with her shoes and pants, those without looking. Maybe a peak to be sure her ankle wasn’t jostled in the process. He left her to take a short shower and get herself into her scant version of pajamas. When she was settled into bed, Sheldon put another pack on her ankle and made sure she was comfortable.

‘I am glad you didn’t seem to have drunk much last night. It is a dangerous habit to drink and drive as you do.’ Sheldon always found his sleep easier when he heard Penny’s car returning from her party nights. He wondered why he never noticed the sounds when Leonard or Howard would be driving back from a failed quest to pick up girls.

‘Oh, yeah, I played designated driver last night. Funny, I was the one to get hurt.’ Penny gave a laugh and asked for some water.

Sheldon got Penny her water and sang her a few rounds of soft kitty. She had to be quite tired because Sheldon heard Penny’s deep REM sleep breathing start in the middle of the third round. He sat watching his neighbor for a few minutes thinking about why he paid so much attention towards her. It was a surprisingly more complicated problem than he realized and it could not be answered simply or easily.

Almost from the beginning he took note of her comings and goings, times, people, activities. He had been astonished at her casualness towards laundry when she joined his laundry time on Saturday. Somehow, it had proceeded rapidly from annoyance with the unexpected company to looking forward to her arrival. He had been annoyed with her mooching yet he never insisted she stop with any force but had rather made it a game of outwitting her latest attempts or developing sarcastic commentary on her raids with tea and other beverages in to-go-cups with prices for the contents. She was puzzlement incarnate. In the end, he decided, however he felt about Penny, he needed to be here for her today so she could rest her ankle. He went back to 4A to get his laptop so he could work and be nearby if Penny needed any assistance.

+++

Leonard looked up from his breakfast when Sheldon came in, got his laptop, and headed back out the front door. ‘Are you going back over to Penny’s?’

‘Yes, I am. While she feels her ankle is doing well, she may still like to have some assistance.’

‘I can come over and help. You don’t have to change your schedule, man.’

Sheldon looked at his roommate with some resignation thinking Needy Baby, Greedy Baby, indeed. ‘There is no need for that, Penny is sleeping, now. This will be no great change to my schedule, anyway, and nothing she wouldn’t do in the same circumstance for me.’ Even Sheldon could tell Leonard’s frustration with the break up was still sitting heavily with him.

‘How does she put up with your finicky ways when she won’t even give me the time of day?’ Leonard was in a full sulk talking more to his food than to his roommate.

Sheldon’s Vulcan hearing picked up the sullen whisper. ‘That may be because I assist her without ulterior motive while your assistance is to garner a sense of obligation from her to have sex with you, Leonard, just as your offer to me to help keep my schedule uninterrupted was really meant to gain access to Penny’s apartment and attempt to coax her sympathies.’

Leonard got irritated at that characterization of his efforts. ‘I’ve never done anything like that and also Penny has always been into me. Besides, I called dibs, roomie and best friend.’

Sheldon looked tiredly at his ‘best’ friend who had almost sabotaged his career and his reputation so he could get back home faster and try to get together with Penny. ‘Clearly, Penny doesn’t think so since she broke up with you and refuses any further overtures from you. As to your dibs, Penny is free to date anyone she cares to without regard to your desires. Furthermore, you have no entitlement to say who I may show any romantic interest in.’

Sheldon didn’t wait to listen to any angry retorts. He walked out of 4A and quietly slipped back into Penny’s apartment. He connected up his laptop and sat down in the easy chair that had become his 4B spot. He paid no notice to the laptop for over an hour while he was preoccupied with his final retort to Leonard. It was a consideration that hadn’t entered his earlier thinking about his feelings for Penny.

+++


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny and Sheldon plan a trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU inspired by some movies and TV shows. Not looking for canon just having fun with Bing Bang's characters. Penny used to build engines as a kid so what happened to that hobby?

While Sheldon pondered the nature of what Penny had become to his life, Howard and Raj came to 4A with the latest on the UFO sightings.

‘Hey, Leonard, haven’t you been watching the news?’ Howard was almost jumping up and down in excitement.

‘Yeah, dude, they got some grainy photos from a traffic helicopter, you won’t believe it.’ Raj turned on the 24 hour local News channel which was buzzing about the photos.

The images where at a distance and appeared to be about human sized with a jet engine of some kind in the center. They had blowups of the photo which looked like a human with some kind of rocket pack. The news speculated on the similarity of appearance to the Rocketeer of the 1930s and 40s. No one had ever identified the flying hero that had most famously stopped a Nazi dirigible filled with escaping spies but the pundits speculated he might have been part of a military project which was being revived today.

Raj was beside himself. ‘Can you believe it, the Rocketeer, it looks just like him! He was famous even in India.’

Howard seconded the fame. ‘My dad even had some of my grandfather’s old comics of the Rocketeer. He was part of why I wanted to be an astronaut as a kid.’

The guys kept waiting for Leonard to say something even just hello by now. ‘Hello, Earth to Leonard, an actual legendary superhero on TV.’

Leonard was too busy sulking over Sheldon’s parting remarks to care much about a crazy UFO story. ‘Guys, weren’t Penny and I great together? She was over here all the time and all Sheldon did was bitch about her mooching and I stood up for her. Isn’t that what stand up guys do for a girl? We had a thing from day one and she’d never have come over if I hadn’t asked her. Sheldon didn’t even want to meet her at first.’

Howard looked at Leonard like he was speaking a different language for a few seconds he was so caught up in the news. Raj just couldn’t believe Leonard was still in a funk over Penny. He tried to bring some sense to what Leonard was talking about, at least as he saw it. ‘Leonard, Penny had her reasons mainly the ones she said right here that you didn’t respect her enough.’

‘What was that about, I didn’t respect her? I let her walk all over me. If anyone wasn’t getting respect it was me.’

Howard had to speak up at that. ‘When did Penny walk all over you? Is this about all the food and borrowing stuff? That isn’t walking all over you, that’s just borrowing stuff. Sheldon always told her when she went too far with his things and she always reined it in, well, mostly, but you let her do whatever she wanted and she did. If you didn’t want her doing that you should have spoken up like Sheldon.’

‘Are you guys on his side, now? I thought we were bros? Besides, I called dibs on Penny.’ Leonard got up and got a coffee mug that he banged on the counter and growled his way through filling.

Raj guessed something must have happened with Sheldon and Penny since they had been spending more time together ever since she’d dumped Leonard. ‘We’re not taking anyone’s side, Leonard; we don’t have a side here. Penny wasn’t happy dating you because you expected her to be in your debt just because she came over for food and stuff. All you had to do was say stop but you made it about her owing you, personally, and not for the free stuff but because you stood up for her. She didn’t need anyone to stand up for her.’

Howard added one that did bug him a little. ‘And you made fun of her belief in psychics and astrology. It’s silly stuff, sure, but you expected her to drop the psychics and the rest and made fun of her for it all the time.’

‘Hey, Sheldon ragged on that stuff worse than me. He took cheap shots at it every time she mentioned it.’

‘Yeah, he told her how much foolishness it was. He didn’t tell her to stop believing in it or stop using it. He just told her how useless it was.’ Howard looked around for Sheldon since he was usually onto his post Doctor Who rituals by now and he would surely be following the Rocketeer news. ‘Where is Sheldon, anyway?’

‘He’s over in Penny’s apartment with ‘romantic interests’. Leonard put as much poison into the sentence as his feeling of betrayal could muster.

Howard and Raj gaped in surprise. That just might be bigger news than the Rocketeer.

+++

Penny woke up feeling a lot better. Her ankle was feeling a lot more mobile and the swelling had almost completely gone down. She figured keeping off it for the day would fix her up good as new. Feeling hungry, she got up to make something to eat. She was only slightly surprised to find her whack-a-doodle neighbor in her living room. ‘Have you been here since I went to bed, sweetie?’

Sheldon looked up from his laptop and smiled since Penny appeared to be walking better than earlier this morning. ‘Yes, I have, apart from taking the time to get my laptop. I wished to be of assistance in case your ankle continued to trouble you.’

Penny walked into the kitchen area with only a hint of limping. ‘Thanks, Sheldon. I feel pretty good and I have the long weekend coming up to myself. I gave up my shifts to a new girl at the Cheese Cake Factory so I could get some stuff done. Naturally, this happened.’

Penny put her injured foot up on the kitchen counter where she was chopping some vegetables to go with the omelette she wanted. Sheldon was horrified by the unhygienic cooking practice she was engaged in.

‘Penny, please allow me to help with the cooking.’ He came over to the counter and shooed away his very flexible neighbor from combining ballet stretching with food preparation. Omelettes hardly needed the help of athlete’s foot or some other competing pathogen from the floor. He began washing down the counter space before rewashing the vegetables so he could make brunch for them both.

‘Sure thing, I love a home cooked meal from a man that can cook.’ Penny gave Sheldon a quick hug and got herself a glass of her favorite chardonnay and turned on the TV. ‘Sheldon, there’s a Firefly marathon about to start up, you wanna watch it with me?’

‘Of course, I had planned to watch it on my laptop while you were sleeping so the sound wouldn’t disturb you.’

‘Thanks, sweetie.’ Penny fluffed her pillows on the couch and settled down to watch Sheldon working in the kitchen. For such a self-absorbed guy who never seemed to notice anything outside his own interests, he was always surprising her with his thoughtfulness. She considered her plans for the upcoming long weekend and also about how much fun they’d had at the train exhibit. She sipped her wine deep in thought.

Sheldon came over with a tray laden with omelettes, sausages, and fruit salad with mascarpone and cinnamon. There was also coffee for Penny and an English breakfast tea for himself.

Penny inspected the tray with delight. ‘Honey, you have true superpowers in the kitchen. If you ever want to give up physics you could have an amazing career as a chef.’

‘Not really, it is my Meemaw who has the culinary superpowers. I simply learned a few recipes and techniques from her.’

They dug into their meal and enjoyed the first episode of the marathon trading lines and quips from the show. Sheldon loved the show and had been surprised by Penny’s enthusiasm for it since she usually didn’t care for science fiction. For her, the Western themes and elements were a great part of what drew her to the show because it reminded her of her rodeo days.

Penny insisted on helping wash and dry the dishes between episodes and also got another glass of her chardonnay. When she sat back down on the couch she had made up her mind about the coming long weekend. ‘Sheldon, what are you doing next weekend? I’m guessing you have the long weekend, too.’

‘I do. I had considered a trip to the train museum after our last outing. Would you like to go there with me, Penny?’ Sheldon was hopeful she would be willing to go. He thought the venue would provide an opportunity to explore a paradigm shift in their relationship after the success of their outing to the train exhibition.

Penny sighed a bit knowing how much Sheldon loved his trains. ‘That sounds great but I was going up to San Francisco. That was the stuff I wanted to do over the long weekend. I was kind of hoping you might want to come with me?’

‘The whole weekend in San Francisco?’ This was an unexpected turn of events. Sheldon had been thinking of an afternoon of trains but three days in San Francisco, alone together, would give ample time for them both to consider a change in their relationship. It was a far superior condition under which to weigh the question than a single afternoon.

‘I do believe that would be a much better use of the long weekend; in fact, there are numerous attractions in the city which we might both enjoy.’

Penny was happy Sheldon was on board with the idea so easily. He could be immovable when his heart was set on his particular interests like trains. ‘That’s great. How about we leave Thursday afternoon? I can take my time driving and we can miss the holiday traffic, hopefully.’

‘That’s a splendid idea; however, there are several comfortable train options we might use.’ Sheldon hoped to keep a train theme going since Penny appeared to have a new interest in them.

‘Well, I can’t really; I need a car for some stuff I’m bringing. I have some old friends up in Alameda who are having a big tailgate party that I want to go to. And the party sounds like all day craziness so I wasn’t sure you wanted to go to that.’

‘You’re correct, but I would be willing to make the sacrifice.’ Sheldon could well imagine the horror. Football, beer, unsanitary grilling, his father would be in pig heaven in such a venue. Still, if there were to be a possibility of a relationship change between them he would have to accommodate some of Penny’s interests at unforeseen times.

Penny rubbed Sheldon’s arm. ‘You don’t have to do that, Sheldon; I know you don’t like football at the best of times. I thought I might go by myself. It’s just Saturday, so we could let that be our alone day to enjoy stuff the other one doesn’t really like. I’m sure you want to visit the comic shops and other things up there. If I went to those, it would be as tough a day on me as you leading a beer pong challenge.’

Sheldon nodded in quick agreement to the logic of the idea. ‘Yes, that is an excellent suggestion. We can indulge our personal interests to the full without causing annoyance to the other and ruining the trip. I believe it would also make our mutual time more satisfying since we won’t have neglected personal preferences. I believe you have outlined an excellent course of action, Penny.’

They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the Firefly marathon and deciding on activities for their days together in San Francisco. Sheldon was eager to visit the Randall Museum on his free day. It was a small model train museum that was well regarded for children and enthusiast in the area. He was surprised Penny was interested in going to the Hiller Aviation Museum so they agreed to do that on their first day in San Francisco.

Penny was finishing the last of her chardonnay and Sheldon was feeling his bedtime coming on. They had come up with a satisfying schedule for them to enjoy but both were ready to call it a night.

‘Thank you for suggesting this San Francisco trip, Penny. It would never have occurred to me you’d want to undertake such an expedition together.’

‘I think we can both use a vacation from Leonard, especially after the way he was acting this morning.’ Penny still couldn’t believe he’d just ignored her injured ankle and just jumped on the green eyed jealousy wagon as soon as he saw her with Sheldon in the morning.

‘Indeed, he was worse when I went back to get my laptop. He is not taking the break up well.’

Penny hugged Sheldon. ‘Don’t let him make you crazy over it. It’s done and he doesn’t have anything to say in my life or in the lives of the folks I want to hang around with, especially you, Sheldon.’ Penny petted his arm a bit. ‘I think you let him pull that ‘we’re supposed to be friends’ crap too much for your own good. He was always doing it to me in too many ways. Folks who do that aren’t really friends. They sure aren’t boyfriend material.’ Penny looked at the pile of dishes on the coffee table and snorted in defeat. ‘I’ll wash them, tomorrow.’

‘I can wash them for you, Penny. It’s no trouble.’

‘No, Sheldon, you’ve primped and pampered me all day because of my ankle. You’ve done more than enough to call it a night.’

‘I don’t mind and it will give you one less thing to do, tomorrow. You should try to reduce the load on your foot for at least another day.’

Penny gave him a glare. ‘Are you saying I’m fat?’ Penny chuckled at Sheldon’s sudden awareness of having stepped into a potential minefield but she felt she’d teased him enough today and he really was stepping way out of his usual habits for her with everything today. ‘I’m kidding, Sheldon. It would be a big help not seeing this stuff, tomorrow. Could you lock up on the way out, I’d really like to hit the hay?’

‘Of course, I will see you tomorrow, Penny.’

‘Good night, Sheldon.’ Penny gave him a quick wave good night and went to get ready for bed.

Sheldon did the washing up quickly and efficiently. He straightened up the living room and considered the wine bottles. Penny had gone through two over the day and Sheldon was concerned what the clearly poor quality wine might contain besides ethanol and grape juice. She drank it exclusively and never with anyone else. He worried about what the inferior brand could be doing to his friend’s health. He poured a small sample into an empty water bottle for analysis to see what impurities might be in it besides alcohol. He turned off the lights and locked up the apartment and went back to 4A.

Leonard was still up watching the new Battlestar Galactica. ‘Hey, buddy, I thought you moved in with Penny?’ You spend more time with her than with me, after all.’

Sheldon frowned at the poor attempt at greeting. ‘This has all happened before, Leonard. A woman gets tired of gratifying your neediness while receiving too little gratification in return and so decides to move on. This should be quite familiar territory by now.’

Leonard sulked at the TV screen. ‘So, she’s moved on to you? Some friend, snaking your best friend’s girl from him.’

Sheldon considered Penny’s advice to him on friendship and reasoned there was no point to continuing this line of conversation. ‘Leonard, I have not snaked anyone from you. As I said this morning, Penny and I have been friends almost from the beginning in spite of our tendency to row over personal preferences. Our friendship predated your dismal attempt to have a dating relationship with her as well as your many attempts to get her to date you to begin with. Yours was a relationship which, if you will remember, I did predict would end in disaster. I will not waste any further time or energy on your demands that I justify my friendship with Penny. Good night, Leonard.’

Sheldon headed for the bathroom to wash up before bed. He disregarded Leonard’s continued retorts to his remarks, especially in light of Penny’s advice about real friends. It had really sounded like something his Meemaw might have said and she was wise on these matters.

+++

Wednesday came quickly and Sheldon and Leonard and the guys went to the comic shop after work and returned to the apartment for Halo night. Penny came over to join the game and teamed up with Sheldon as usual.

‘Hey guys, long weekend started!’ Penny did a happy dance for the weekend and for her healed foot.

‘Congratulations, Penny, I am glad to see your ankle appears none the worse for wear.’ Sheldon had seen little of Penny during the week. He had completed several projects ahead of schedule so as to clear the days ahead for their trip. He was happy to see Penny up and about like her usual self.

‘Thanks, Sheldon, the day off my feet you made for me made all the difference.’ Penny jumped on the couch gave him a thank you hug that he rolled his eyes through but he didn’t mind her doing so very much. ‘Is your enthusiasm for mauling me promulgated by having started your weekend early, Penny?’

‘I might have had a glass or two but it won’t affect my ability to kick ass in Halo.’ Penny was proud of her game record and had no intention of seeing it tarnished.

‘Usual teams, guys?’ Raj had a beer and loosened up enough to chat in front of Penny.

‘Of course, Penny and I would have it no other way, I hope?’ Sheldon handed Penny her favored controller.

‘Is that the sound of romance, Sheldon?’ Howard was both curious and unable to believe that little mic drop from Leonard last weekend.

‘There’s no romance going on between Sheldon and Penny since they’d tell me, first.’ Leonard had no idea what was going on between his roommate and his ex-girlfriend but he still wanted to stake out his territory. Even Sheldon winced his outstandingly bad timing for a territorial display.

Penny put her controller on the coffee table and leaned against Sheldon. ‘No, I wouldn’t even think of telling you, Leonard, because you have nothing to do with who I date. I don’t need your permission, blessing, or anything else.’

The room went silent. Penny’s tone was the same dead flat tone she had when she broke up with Leonard. Raj and Howard hoped Leonard would leave well enough alone. They also hoped Trisha Helfer would drop by tonight with Katee Sackhoff for a double date and they were sure their odds were a great deal better for the double date.

‘What about my feelings? Do you think it is fine to throw guys in my face?’ Leonard had been sulking all week and he was determined to get his licks in.

Penny didn’t look mad at all which scared Howard and Raj more than an angry Penny would have. Sheldon was completely confused because he expected a row and he could tell Leonard wanted one. He couldn’t guess what Penny would do because her calm in the face of Leonard’s sniping was unusual. She always tried caring about everyone’s feelings so it was odd to hear her seeming to not care about Leonard’s.

‘You are hopeless, Leonard. You really are like a child told he can’t have a toy on the shelf that he wants. Well, listen up, I am not a toy. I am the woman who kicked you to the curb because I will not be steamrolled over to suit your ego. I will date anyone I want, anytime I want. Your feelings have nothing to do with what I do. I am not responsible for making you feel happy or feel good about yourself.’ Penny patted Sheldon’s arm and smiled at him. ‘I’m sorry, honey, but I am going to change game night on you and go back to my place. But, if you get tired of playing here with these guys, Sheldon, my door is open if you’d like to talk about upgrading our relationship status.’ Penny gave Sheldon a quick peck on the cheek and got up to leave.

Leonard jumped up and got in Penny’s way. ‘What do you mean upgrade our status? You can’t date my roommate!’

Penny looked over at Raj and Howard and smiled at them. ‘Guys, get him out of my way, right now.’

Howard and Raj were quicker than her request and pulled Leonard back. ‘Hey, what are you doing? We need to talk about this!’

Raj shook his head. ‘No dude, there’s no more talking.’

Howard seconded that. ‘That’s right man, and if Bernie has taught me anything it is you don’t mess with a woman using that tone of voice. It never ends well.’

Sheldon was stunned at the turn of events. He had been wondering how he’d ever bring up the idea of dating to Penny and now she was all but telling him she wanted to discuss the possibility with him. ‘Leonard, for the good of your health and future, desist. Penny can speak for herself, but she has made her position clear to everyone in this room except you because you cling to your unfulfilled desire for her over the reality that Penny has no wish to be with you and has no responsibility to even acknowledge your desires. I am far from an expert on human relationships but I can recognize a No-Win Scenario even for the likes of Captain Kirk, and you are no Captain Kirk.’

Penny looked gratefully at her bouncer pals. ‘Thanks, Raj, Howard, you guys are great.’ She gave each of her friends a hug which shocked them both, especially Howard. ‘Don’t ruin the moment, Howard.’

Howard smiled and made a zipping motion over his lips but he did get out his smartphone to add a note to his phone calendar for this date.

Penny went to the front door and opened it. She turned back to Sheldon and thought of her first day here. ‘You really are one of those beautiful mind guys, Sheldon.’ She walked out and closed that door without looking back.

Leonard looked around at his friends with dismay. ‘What happened to bros before hos? What happened to the dibs I called? Now, you guys are all on her side and I am supposed to roll over? Oh, no, Penny and I are going to talk about this. She is not telling me what I can and can’t do.’

Leonard started for the door but was stopped short by a hand that grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He was stunned that it was Sheldon that had grabbed him. ‘Go to your room, Leonard.’

Leonard looked at his roommate like he’d gone crazy. ‘I am not a child you can send to his room, Sheldon.’

‘No, you aren’t a child physically, but you are acting like one. That said, if you go through that door and so much as knock on Penny’s door, or even speak through it, I will have you thrown out of this apartment. Penny has made her wishes known to everyone here. If you wish to maintain some semblance of dignity, you will go to your room and cool off.’ Sheldon looked at Howard and Raj. ‘I am sorry, but I am going to forego Halo for Penny’s offer to talk. Leonard may be in the need of a sounding board but I place no obligation on either of you to be such.’ With that, Sheldon marched out of 4A taking the wind out of Leonard’s sails.

Leonard looked at the plain wood of the door and thought of everything that had walked out through it. The wood seemed to turn to stone that he could never move. He looked at Howard and Raj who just stared at him in embarrassment. ‘What did I do wrong?’

+++


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny and Sheldon head for San Francisco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU inspired by old movies and TV shows. Not looking for canon, just fun.
> 
> Penny was building engines as a kid so what happened to that hobby?
> 
> Playing with Big bang's toys for a while.

Knock, knock, knock, Penny? 

Knock, knock, knock, Penny? 

Knock, knock, knock, Penny?

‘Hey, Sheldon, I’m sorry about that.’ Penny sounded kind of sad and sighed. ‘Come on in.’

Penny closed her door behind Sheldon and asked him if he wanted some chamomile tea she was brewing up. ‘I would enjoy some, thank you, Penny, but what are you sorry for?’

Penny poured their tea and passed Sheldon’s mug to him and they sat together on the couch. ‘I shouldn’t have made that crack about upgrading our relationship status. I was so pissed off at Leonard; I needed him to see he had no say in my life. I didn’t think about that upsetting you since you’re not all touchy feely like me or looking for a relationship all the time like those guys.’

Sheldon wondered if he had misinterpreted Penny’s earlier statement since he hadn’t felt upset in the least, quite the opposite if anything. ‘Put your mind at ease, I wasn’t upset, but are you saying that you do not wish to discuss changing our relationship status?’

Penny chewed her bottom lip in thought for a while. ‘Did you come over because of what I said about relationships? Does Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper even do relationships?’

Sheldon could feel the unstable ground he was on. He had far too little experience of this sort of conversation to have any clear way to proceed. ‘Yes, I did come over because of your suggestion. While you are correct in my normal disregard for seeking the intimacy of a sexual partner, I have had to acknowledge that I no longer feel for you like a friend. After you went to bed last weekend morning with your injured ankle, I spent considerable time thinking about how our friendship has evolved. You have become irreplaceable to my life, Penny.’

Penny sipped her tea and looked fondly at her whack-a-doodle neighbor. ‘Sheldon, I don’t know what to say. I guess I did want to talk about us while we were up in San Francisco. I was expecting some changes after the trip, anyway.’

Sheldon had wondered why Penny invited him on the long trip; the offer still surprised him. ‘I am not suggesting that we start a dating relationship although that would be my desired end goal, I had hoped to discuss whether we were both agreeable to the experiment. Were the changes you referring to about us or do the changes relate to your San Francisco friends that you will meet on Saturday?’

Penny noticed they had both finished their tea and asked Sheldon if he wanted another. She went to the kitchen to get more tea for Sheldon and a glass of wine for herself. ‘A little of both, I suppose. Those friends in Alameda I’m meeting are from Nebraska and I haven’t seen them in ages. They wanted to talk about me moving up there to San Francisco. It would be a big change and I was hoping you could come and give me some advice about it all.’

Sheldon was dismayed at the idea Penny was thinking of moving to San Francisco. ‘Would you be abandoning your degree and your acting career?’

Penny smiled at Sheldon’s turn of thought to worrying about what she was doing instead of worrying about losing a chance to date her. It was so much of what made him dear to her in spite of how frustrating he could be. ‘No, I could transfer to UCSF fairly easy and the TV and film career really isn’t going to happen without more experience. There’s plenty of small theater work up there for that. No, I really wanted to talk about us because I wouldn’t want to lose you, Sheldon. It would be a big change and I don’t know what I’m asking us to be because of it. I thought we might figure something out over the weekend?’

Sheldon thought he understood what Penny meant. ‘Are you suggesting some kind of long distance relationship while you are in San Francisco?’

Penny nodded. ‘Yeah, something like that. I haven’t made any decisions about San Francisco but I do want to get out of here, out of Pasadena. My theater friends don’t come around as much as they used to and so much of my time went down a rabbit hole when I got involved with Leonard that I just realized I had to get out of here. My whole life was starting to revolve around you guys and I was just the pretty blonde monkey in the room.’

Sheldon was shocked Penny had been feeling like such an outsider to their group. ‘You have never been some kind of pet to us, Penny. I am sorry if I have ever made you feel that way.’

‘No, you haven’t, well at first maybe, but I guess it’s hard to not act like the smartest person in the room when you often really are the smartest person in the room.’ Penny smirked at Sheldon’s aloof nod of agreement. ‘But when it comes to people, you can be really dense, Moonpie. You don’t have to keep telling people you’re so smart; just let your work do that and the rest will take care of itself.’

‘Only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie, Penny, and she has mentioned that advice a few times.’ Sheldon finished his tea and thought about packing for the trip, tomorrow. ‘We should put our affairs in order and get our luggage ready for the journey. Have you packed, yet, Penny?’

‘No, I might do that in the morning. I have the important stuff put together; the rest can be thrown in an overnight bag when I get up.’ Penny finished off her wine and leaned closer to Sheldon. ‘Do you want to help me pack in the morning?’ She bumped into Sheldon flirtatiously and chuckled at his glare.

‘Is this your low grade even for navy grog wine talking, Penny?’ Sheldon rolled his eyes at his chaotically inclined neighbor.

‘Oh, come on, Sheldon, I’m just having some fun with you. If you want a relationship, you have got to loosen up.’

‘Penny, without trying to be insulting, is this not how things started with Leonard? I do not wish to start something by loosening you up with anything.’

Penny drew back with a frown. ‘Do you think I am acting, here, like I don’t know what I am doing because of that?’ She pointed out the wine glass on the table for emphasis.

‘No, I am not blaming your wine for anything; certainly, I would not blame your wine for making you act in any way unlike yourself. I want us to both be on the same page and I feel that your wine would prevent us both believing that was the case if we went any further this evening.’

Penny looked at the empty glass and remembered how Leonard looked when she’d wandered into his room that first night. He never cared how drunk she might have been. ‘You’re too good a guy to believe exists, sometimes, Sheldon Lee Cooper.’ She hugged him and rested her head on his chest.

Sheldon breathed in the green apple smell of Penny’s hair and thought she too seemed an equally improbable addition to the world. ‘Penny?’ He smirked at the snoring that came all of a sudden from his always unpredictable friend. He slid out from under Penny and gently rested her head on one of her softer pillows. He got an extra blanket from her bedroom closet and tucked her in on the couch. He cleaned up their dishes and turned off the lights and went back to 4A to pack for the trip.

When Sheldon got into his apartment he found it quiet and dark. He discovered a note on his door. Raj and Howard had taken Leonard out to drown his sorrows and that Raj would bring Leonard back to his place so Sheldon wouldn’t have to deal with Leonard tonight. Sheldon was happy for the opportunity to pack without having Leonard inquiring into the nature of the packing and its purpose. After this evening’s disastrous Halo game night, he could well imagine Leonard would be more than a little upset to discover Sheldon was going to spend the long weekend on a trip to San Francisco with Penny.

+++

In the morning, Sheldon gathered his bags in the living room to take down to Penny’s car. Wary of her throat punching rule, Sheldon waited until 11am to knock on her door.

‘Hey, there, mon frere! Are you all packed to go?’ Penny figured that was probably one of the most unnecessary questions she had ever asked.

‘Of course. I hope you are prepared or have you chosen to wait until the last minute as per your regular routine?’ Sheldon was surprised Penny was looking up and ready to go. He had expected to be waking her up since they’d plan to leave at 1pm.

‘It’s a whole new world, Dr. Cooper, I, Penny Queen, am already to bring my stuff down to the car.’ She laughed at the look of disbelief on Sheldon’s face that she was ready to go. He didn’t count on how much this trip meant to her.

‘Forgive me for making such a rash assumption based on previous behavior. I had not considered that this trip is itself atypical and likely to provoke atypical responses.’

Penny ran that through her Sheldon Dictionary and chose to side with the better half of that. ‘Great, so is Leonard giving you a hard time yet about the trip?’

Sheldon looked rather chipper at that. ‘Howard and Raj took him out for libations and commiseration and he slept at Raj’s place so the apartment is free of any inquisition.’

Penny figured that could be to their advantage. ‘Maybe, we should get our stuff downstairs and in the car. We can leave a note that we’ve gone traveling for the weekend and avoid any useless questions ruining things, especially from Leonard.’

Sheldon frowned a second with the schedule change but he had to admit the merit of Penny’s suggestion. ‘Agreed, I am loath to get food on the run but we should be able to find a suitable place to eat lunch on the way.’

They quickly got their bags downstairs. Sheldon was further shocked that Penny had already gotten her bags down to the car. All she had to move was one large case that had some of her old rodeo gear she was going to let the niece of one of her friend’s try out and see if it fit. They were loaded up and on the road by 11:30. They passed Howard’s car coming home but the guys were talking far too much to notice Penny and Sheldon passing them by. 

‘Wow, I didn’t think they could miss seeing us in broad daylight like that. That is a good sign.’ Penny checked her rear view to confirm the guys had missed seeing her car.

‘Penny, such observations are the hokum of the masses but for the moment I will concede the serendipitous nature of the event.’

Penny hummed happily and turned on her car radio. She came across ‘The Infinite Monkey Cage on NPR when she was going through the channels and let Sheldon have the first pick of the trip with the Brian Cox science show. Even Penny found some funny bits to it much to Sheldon’s surprise and he was overjoyed at how much they had to chat about along with Brian Cox and Robin Ince.

+++

The guys were having a very animated conversation, a couple actually. Howard and Raj were focused on this morning’s news.

‘They saw the Rocketeer again around 2am, it has to be him!’ Howard was busy trying to imagine the engineering needed for a workable jetpack like that.

‘Dude, it can’t be the original but it does look like him. At least, it does seem to be a jetpack like the one he used. Couldn’t they be developing something for space?’ Raj was sure it had to be a secret JPL project, maybe something that would be used for the ISS.

‘Depends on how the fuel mixes, is it a turbo system of some kind or is it a true rocket?’ Howard was in the turbo system camp since rockets don’t really shut off easily but usually just burn all their fuel on acceleration.

‘Guys, could we focus on more down to Earth stuff? If that is some kind of real rocket or whatever, it’s probably military and not some kind of superhero returned from the past.’ Leonard was cranky from the hangover he was nursing today.

‘Sure, it’s got to be military but what would it be for?’ Howard wanted to get a look at whatever it was.

‘Personal flight like a jetpack would be a radical rethink to flight technology. The kinds of things we have now are too bulky and fuel wasteful to be of any use but the old Rocketeer’s stuff had to be an impossibly radical design. Who could have designed something like that back in the 30s?’ Raj loved the idea of flying to work every day just as much as Howard.

‘There weren’t a lot of people who could have come up with something like that, Howard Hughes, maybe. He had the money and the crazy ideas as well as the industry muscle to get through the failures without being defunded.’ Howard tried to think of anyone having the creativity, money, and resources to develop a truly effective jetpack back then.

Leonard was sure the guys were on the wrong track. ‘Come on, no one has ever seen the Rocketeer since the early 40s and there were never any good pictures, just reports. He was probably some kind of gag or propaganda thing. There were all sorts of crazy promotions back then, look at the folks who believed Martians were invading because Orson Welles said so?’

‘Are you back on the drone idea, Leonard? This thing is way too fast for any kind of drone in use.’ Howard didn’t accept that idea at all.

‘Sure, it makes sense, more than a jetpack does. You might as well go back to your idea Sheldon is the one flying around JPL in the middle of the night.’ Leonard was happy to see the apartment come into view. He was getting tired of listening to the wild speculation of his two pals.

The argument continued all the way from the parking lot to the fourth floor. Leonard thought of knocking on 4B to see how Penny was doing but Howard and Raj reminded him of his promise to leave her door alone for today, at least. They went into 4A and found everything shut off the way Sheldon usually did when the apartment was left unattended more than the typical daily work hours. They all thought that was weird but they figured he might have gone out for lunch but they couldn’t understand why he would have turned everything off.

Leonard went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water and found Sheldon’s note. Howard called out from the bathroom with word of a similar note from Sheldon. Raj walked over to Leonard’s door to find a third. They all had the same text; Sheldon had just left them in the most likely places Leonard was to visit when he first got in.

 

“Dear Leonard, Raj, and Howard,

Penny and I have decided to engage in an Anything Can Happen Thursday activity together. Because this weekend is a long weekend we have chosen to extend ACH Thursday to include the entire holiday and have decided to make it a travel activity. We have departed from the apartment at 11:30 am and plan to return Monday at 2pm, traffic allowing. We both hope that you will also enjoy your long weekend.  
Sincerely,

Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Ms. Penelope Queen”

Leonard looked at the clock and crushed up the note he was holding and threw it in the trash can. ‘We must have just missed them. What do they think they are doing? They aren’t going to spend the weekend together. Penny will kill Sheldon before the day is over.’

Raj chuckled at Leonard’s view of the last several weeks. ‘Those two have always argued like an old married couple, Leonard. Teach them Hindi and they’d sound just like my parents.’

Howard agreed with Raj. ‘Yeah, my parents, too. You don’t want to see it, Leonard, but they have been circling each other forever like a couple of Klingons in a mating display.’

Leonard gagged at that. ‘Mating? Are you out of your mind? Sheldon is a robot who wouldn’t know what to do with a girl and Penny couldn’t get drunk enough to jump in bed with Sheldon.’

Raj just waved his copy of Sheldon’s note. ‘They’ve turned Anything Can Happen Thursday into a four day weekend headed to only they know where. They could be going to a Vegas wedding for all we know.’

‘They wouldn’t dare get married without telling me.’ Leonard growled with a growing headache.

Howard and Raj just shook their heads and let that lie. There was no talking to Leonard about this and they expected bigger changes when Sheldon and Penny got back from where ever they went.

+++


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sheldon and Penny arrive in San Francisco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU Penny is supposed to have been building tractors and such as a kid so why did that hobby change?  
> Inspired by some old movies and TV shows that will become apparent as the story moves along.  
> Not trying to be canon just having fun with Big Bang's characters.

Heading north, Penny and Sheldon laughed along with the humor of The Infinite Monkey Cage and Sheldon got out his phone to look for places to stay in San Francisco. He found a lovely B&B called Noe’s Nest which was fairly central to the activities they wanted to do and would put Penny on easy access to Alameda and give him easy access to public transit on their alone day, Saturday.

‘God, Sheldon, that looks fantastic! I love the Chapeau Room, the hats are so pretty. But, how can we afford that?’

‘Not to worry, Penny, it is surprisingly reasonable for its location and it is available during this holiday weekend. The holiday travelers will have booked most of the acceptable venues so we should be grateful this remains open.’ Sheldon booked the room and paid a deposit. He was glad he chanced introducing the location while Penny was driving since it was pricey. He wanted her to enjoy the quality of the room and not be debating the price tag.

Penny squeed and almost bounced in her seat when she pulled up in front of the Victorian era styled Noe’s Nest. The lovely green paintwork and blue finishing set behind the wrought iron fence was wonderful. She was sure they couldn’t afford it but Sheldon told her he’d already paid for the room for the whole weekend and the city was already mostly overbooked and besides, they were on a special holiday just for them. Penny felt like she was thrown back into the 19th century of San Francisco’s past. The dining room with its coppery ceiling, the living room with its quaint sofas and Persian rugs, and the house had a variety of eclectic styles for each bedroom.

The Chapeau room was a dream and Sheldon just smiled and filmed Penny from the doorway while she ran her hands over the ornate fireplace and the gilded mirrors over it. The collection of hats on the far wall made her dreamy for a walk in period costume around the house. She especially loved the view that the bed had. The queen sized bed was set into the glassed in alcove of the room letting the sleepers have a picturesque view of San Francisco. The small private balcony for the room that overlooked the back garden made the room heavenly.

‘Sheldon, get in here. You have to get a picture of us on the lounger.’ The B&B’s manager had seen so many young couples with the same enthusiasm; she was always at the ready for the picture requests when they first got in. Penny sat on the lounger at the foot of the bed and Penny wrapped Sheldon in a hug and kissed him for the best surprise she had ever had in this lovely room. The manager had them pose around the room, especially on the bed where she said they made the cutest couple.

‘I assume the accommodations are up to your specifications, Penny.’ He felt amazed he wasn’t even nervous at being hugged and filmed at the same time but seeing Penny so happy was gratifying.

‘Are they, Moonpie? For a man who doesn’t date, you sure know how to pick something a woman would like.’ Penny took another stroll around the nick knacks that decorated the room and took another turn out on the balcony to admire the view. Sheldon came out with her and they sat down to enjoy the late afternoon together.

‘Only Meemaw calls me Moonpie, Penny. Now, I would never make claim to such knowledge, but I would like to hope I have observed enough of your preferences to pick something you would like and would be enjoyable for us both. I had thought of the Kendra West Room but it is more Texas than Nebraska though I did wonder if you would enjoy the association with your rodeo past. However, it does not have the view this room enjoys.’

Penny smiled and reached for Sheldon’s hand on the small coffee table between them. She was impressed at how well he had picked something she would enjoy. ‘This is perfect, Sheldon.’

They chatted for a bit outside and feeling hungry after the nearly non-stop drive up to the city, they checked for some local restaurants. They were especially happy that they had a much wider selection than when they were with the whole gang. Neither of them had any of the food restrictions their friends had which gave them a large number of places to choose from. Sheldon was particular about cleanliness but so was Penny, now, after working in a restaurant long enough. She had surprised Sheldon a couple of times by rejecting one or two of his favored places after explaining some of the kitchen practices she had noticed going on that had slipped by him. 

They settled on Rosamunde Sausage Grill, a hole in the wall German place that seemed to fit their Anything Can Happen Thursday bill. They decided to walk there and see the local neighborhood. On the way, their phones got messages from Howard and Raj with thumbs up and roses emojis that sent both Sheldon and Penny into laughter. They also both got voice mails from Leonard that they deleted since they didn’t want anything to be a wet blanket on the day.

The restaurant was great for them both. Penny got the Merguez, a lamb sausage with Moroccan spices. She was surprised when Sheldon ordered the wild boar sausage. He said he got a taste for it in Germany and hoped this restaurant could do credit to a dish he hadn’t been able to find a good version of since leaving Germany.

‘God, this is so good, you’ve got to try this next time! How’s the boar, Sheldor?’

‘Very tasty, not quite up to German standards, but a credible attempt that I would not be embarrassed to recommend.’

‘What do you want to do with the rest of ACH Thursday, sweetie?’

Sheldon considered that since it was still before 6 there were quite a few options open they might enjoy in the area. ‘I suggest something within the city and a 15 minute drive at most. Let’s each write a choice on the back of our napkins and we will go there.’ They both consulted the maps on their phones and wrote down the choice each had in mind. Their laughter caught the attention of a few of the nearby tables. Both of them wanted to visit the grave of Emperor Norton I. 

Joshua Abraham Norton was a 19th century businessman that had lost everything in rice speculation, went mad, and declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. With the Civil War raging and the fate of the Union up for grabs, the city had taken the half-mad eccentric to its heart. Penny and Sheldon were amazed they both had a mutual love of the unconventional old man. They bought a bouquet of lilies and a card for the grave before getting a cab to the Woodlawn Cemetery to visit the Emperor.

The tall headstone was flanked by simple shrubbery and several tourists had left their cards, flowers, and odd bottle of wine or beer for the Emperor. Sheldon and Penny talked about how they got to know the emperor. Penny had gotten fond of obscure inventors, crackpots, and scoundrels thanks to an unconventional high school history teacher who had one of the few classes she didn't want to sleep through. Sheldon had learned of him from his Meemaw when he was first reading the Lord of the Rings. He was reciting the Kings of Gondor and Meemaw asked if he knew about the United States Emperor. Sheldon had loved the wild the eccentric ever since.

After their visit to the Emperor, they got a cab back to their B&B and decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. They found Urban Putt which was both a restaurant and mini-golf course. They unleashed the kid in them both.

‘Come on Sheldon, feel the psychic energy, let it flow through you.’

‘Penny, you are not a Jedi Master.’ Sheldon lined up his shot but the difference between physics and sports is the ability to make your body carry out the math. Penny was proving exceptional at that translation.

‘Watch, young Padawan.’ Penny lined up her shot and sent it ricocheting through the maze and into the hole. 

Sheldon started to line up his shot again and Penny got behind him to help. She reached around and held his wrists and pressing herself into his back. Sheldon tensed up at the sudden closeness and having Penny’s hands guiding his arms. ‘Relax more, you’re over controlling the club. You’re using it more like a baseball bat than a putter.’ 

Sheldon let Penny’s hands guide his and he was happy with how easily the shot went in with her help. Penny was surprised at how strong Sheldon’s wrists and forearms were much like a guitarist. She got Sheldon to move around behind her so he could feel what she was doing on the next maze. Sheldon’s longer arms easily wrapped around her and held her hands on the putter. Penny couldn’t help feeling rather comfortable. ‘Now, just let your hands relax with mine, Sheldon, and follow what I am doing.’

Sheldon was very aware of everything Penny’s body was doing right now. It was hard to be aware of anything else, really, but he did feel what she meant by the way she was swinging the putter. It was a significantly less strong hold and allowed her waist to deliver the stroke instead of her arms and wrists like he had done.

‘See, that’s how we swing, Moonpie.’ Penny turned around in Sheldon’s arms and bit her lower lip as she looked into his eyes.

Sheldon stared at Penny feeling how very warm she felt or maybe it was him, he was having trouble focusing on anything at the moment. He tried to say something but he couldn’t think of anything so he acted on instinct and pure fear. He kissed Penny with a very quick peck on the lips that he thought would ruin the whole day as soon as he was pulling away but Penny caught his face and pulled him back into a softer and slower kiss that felt like it was ridding him of a host of anxieties. They stood a moment holding hands and decided they’d had enough golf for the night and walked back to Noe’s Nest.

They stopped into a corner grocery near The Nest and got some kiwi juice and pastries to snack on when they got back to the room.

‘Would you like some wine, Penny?’

‘No, I’m good. They don’t carry my favorite and you’re spirits enough for me.’

‘You are quite intoxicating yourself while we are on the subject of romantic puns.’

‘You are such a sweet talker; Shakespeare would give up his quill if you had been in London, sweetie.’

They made it back to their room and went out on the balcony to enjoy the night view with their evening treats. They chatted happily for quite a while about the day they had and what they would do, tomorrow. When 10pm rolled around Sheldon started getting twitchy. It was his usual bedtime. Sheldon’s anxieties had started to return when they got to the room with its single bed. He had wanted to upgrade their relationship but now that it was bedtime it was time to face the reality of what that might be. He felt more than nervous. This was a far bigger challenge than mini-golf.

‘Penny, what are we doing, tonight?’

Penny glanced at her friend and guessed what was troubling him. It was easily seen through the balcony window behind them. ‘Sleep, I would guess, that was a long drive and I’ve been up since early this morning getting packed and ready.’

Sheldon sighed in relief at that but he knew they had a long time to go before Monday. ‘Penny, you know no one sleeps in my room.’

‘I’m not sleeping somewhere else, Sheldon. You’re welcome to the floor but I don’t think that’s really your style.’ Penny snorted.

‘Of course it is not, but are we going to sleep together?’

Penny looked at the bed that was almost the size of both of their beds together. ‘That shouldn’t be a problem, Sheldon, unless you snore?’ Penny cut off the start of their bantering since she didn’t want to get Sheldon’s anxieties worked up. ‘Sheldon, couples sleep together, not always, but they do. Think of tonight as an experiment. You said you wanted to see if we were compatible, simply sleeping in the same bed is one part of that compatibility. Stop thinking sleeping means more than sleep.’

Sheldon considered the problem put that way and it was quite reasonable. They got themselves ready for bed. Penny even had a rather respectable set of pajamas instead of her usual more flimsy nightwear. When they got into bed Sheldon asked Penny to sing Soft Kitty to him since he was feeling nervous. She grinned and sang the song for him.

‘Thank you, Penny. That does help but do you think this is like the golf course?’

‘How so, Sheldon?’

‘Am I still too stiff to sleep?’

Penny cracked up at the multilayered double entendre.

‘I do not understand what is so funny, Penny?’

That set her laughing even harder and she accidentally rolled off the bed from the heaving which made her laugh more uncontrollably. Sheldon was certain Penny had gone stark raving bonkers.

+++

The next morning Sheldon woke feeling warm and the warmth was accompanied by smell of apples. He realized he wasn’t alone in bed which snapped his eyes open then he remembered he was not in his room but in a B&B with Penny. She was a cuddler like a koala. He began trying to puzzle out why having Penny’s arms and legs tangling him up weren’t disturbing him and why he was hoping Penny wouldn’t soon waken. He did have some concern if Penny’s before 11am throat punch rule applied but he made the assumption exceptions had to be made for people sleeping with her. Feeling comfortable with the warmth and aroma, Sheldon drifted back to sleep.

+++

Later on Friday

Penny leaned on the railing and stared across the harbor in the twilight. Their day had been tremendous fun. The flight simulator at the Hiller Museum had been a great highlight to the day. They had lunch in Chinatown and had wanted to watch the sunset on the harbor. Watching the sky’s color deepen from copper blue to darker shades, she tried thinking of what she wanted this relationship upgrade to be. She hadn’t meant any jest in that retort to Leonard but she hadn’t been fair to Sheldon. She was serious about leaving Pasadena, that wasn’t a maybe so what could they be?

‘Sheldon, what would make you want to leave Caltech?’

Sheldon had been having a very enjoyable day so the question seemed light hearted. ‘I can’t imagine anything less than an offer to work at CERN to develop my theories, preferably in the wake of winning my Nobel Prize.’

‘Just a little old Nobel, I can’t get you one of those, Moonpie.’

Sheldon caught the wistful note in Penny’s voice and took a more serious turn to his thinking. ‘Only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie, Penny. Are you asking in light of your desire to leave Pasadena?’

‘Yeah, I am seeing my friends, tomorrow, and they will probably want some idea of what I want to do next.’ Penny looked out at a Navy guided missile ship putting out to sea.

‘Without knowing them or what they are suggesting for you, I can’t give any meaningful advice other than to make sure you can continue your current path of studies. They can provide options in your desired field of acting, as well as options beyond acting as you alluded to back in Pasadena. As for myself, I would need to be able to continue my research. It would be hard to find a comparable place outside Caltech up in this part of the state but it wouldn’t be impossible.’

Penny leaned into Sheldon’s shoulder and chuckled a bit. ‘I wouldn’t want you to move for less than the best. It shouldn’t be for me but I guess you’d be pretty good at looking at that objectively.’

Sheldon smiled at that. ‘You are correct but proximity to you would be no small consideration, Penny. You have become a valuable part of my life that I would not wish to lose. Also, you have increased your abilities in the sciences significantly with the class work you have done. I am still surprised you had finished your BA last year. I had no idea you had gotten so far at your community college before you dropped out. I would very much like to aid you in continuing your quest for self-improvement.’

Penny sighed a bit. ‘The community college wasn’t really as hard as I complained about but it was just as boring as I said. I have to keep going on my studies to do the stuff I really want to be doing and it would be huge for me if you could be part of that, Sheldon.’

‘I have no doubt of that backwater community college being boring and I will, certainly make myself available for further aid. The Internet makes that eminently simple even if we can’t find sufficient proximity for personal contact though that would be disappointing.’ Sheldon thought about Penny’s friends and what they might hope to be for her should she move up to San Francisco. ‘I assume the friends you are meeting, tomorrow, will also further those goals. It seems odd they didn’t bring the equipment from Nebraska for you?’

Penny glanced at Sheldon and nodded. ‘Yeah, I didn’t think of that. But it is stuff I like to take care of myself, so I don’t mind the hassle.’

‘I can understand the desire to oversee personal property which has an emotional attachment to oneself. Would that rodeo equipment be things that you would like to re-explore, Penny?’

‘I don’t know, I loved the rodeo but I don’t see myself doing it again, not after this long out of practice. I do miss the excitement, though.’

‘Perhaps, it is that sense of circus which is native to rodeo that drew you to acting? Conceivably, it is the adrenalin rush you are craving rather than the act of performance which is hindering your acting success? I believe the trick riding and shooting you excelled at are what provided the kick you enjoy. Without meaning to insult you, your acting on screen is not of the highest caliber but any action scenes you do are worthy of the best action films. Possibly, you would do better as a stunt woman?’

Penny nodded along with Sheldon’s train of thought. ‘I guess that is an idea but everything depends on how things work out, tomorrow. That’s why I asked about what could make you think of moving.’

Sheldon gave the idea more consideration. ‘Caltech provides more than resources; it has people who are also leaders in my field. My theories are challenged at the highest levels and require equally strong defense. Moreover, it also draws in equally valuable people to the field of research from the world over. That is why there are so few truly worthwhile venues for my research.’

Penny was quite sure of that and agreed completely. ‘I wouldn’t want your work to be held up in any way, Sheldon, if we wanted something together that would be just as important for me, too. Maybe, after tomorrow, you could meet my friend, Sam. She does work like yours, too. I think you might just get along.’

‘Indeed, is she a physicist?’ Sheldon was glad to hear some of the friends she was meeting seemed to be in the sciences.

‘Yeah, she works on the kind of whack-a-doodle stuff you do. She doesn’t get out this way much so it was really important to meet her when I got the chance this weekend.’

Is she the reason you are thinking of this move up north? I would not expect a physicist to be a gateway to the world of acting.’

Penny laughed at that. ‘Oh, no, she’s not an actress at all. But, yeah, she’s why I wanted to get up here and why I’ve been buckling down on the science stuff. I might try to do some work with her side of things if all goes well, tomorrow.’ Penny thought about Sam’s reaction to Sheldon. She already had a few hard to handle scientists around her.

‘I see. I assume she is in a more scientific field and you might be thinking of advancing your science qualifications to join her field as more viable than acting?’ Sheldon was curious why Penny had been progressing beyond the BA in physics.

‘Yeah, if Sam thinks it is doable, I might switch from the acting. I thought you might fit into the stuff she’s doing. I know she does research on String Theory and stuff like that so you might like meeting her after we get back to Pasadena?’

Sheldon was intrigued that Penny had friends in his field. ‘I would like to meet her. I am surprised you have never mentioned her before if she is in the sciences. We had all believed you knew only actors and jocks.’

Penny grinned and shrugged. ‘Who’d expect a beautiful mind science guy to be spending a long weekend with the star of Serial Apeist?’

‘That is a valid point. As it is getting late in the afternoon, I suggest we get an early dinner and return to Noe’s Nest. We can make sure to be well rested for our personal day in San Francisco, tomorrow.’

Penny sighed a bit and looked out across the harbor. She wanted to stay right here and just chat but Sheldon was right about the long day tomorrow. ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea, and we can recheck our Sunday plans to see if everything is good to go?’

‘That is excellent foresight, Penny. Now, to dinner?’ Sheldon held out his hand which was almost a shock to Penny since he was usually so fastidious about such things. She smiled and took his hand and so they walked all twenty minutes to their restaurant. They both found it surprisingly hard to let go when they got to the restaurant door.

+++


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend continues and Sheldon and Penny get through Saturday at times together and at times apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU inspired by some movies and TV shows. Not trying to be canon.
> 
> Penny used work on engine and machinery when she was young, so what happened to that hobby?

On Saturday morning, Penny and Sheldon went down to the buffet at the B&B. They both got several slices of French toast and some ham-steaks and scrambled eggs for the long day each had planned.

‘Have your friends all arrived in Alameda by now, Penny?’

Penny finished off her first slice of French toast before answering. ‘Yeah, they are getting everything ready for the party. They’re taking everyone out on a boat ride out of the harbor and up the coast so it could be something of a long day.’

Sheldon nodded and was grateful they’d planned the day this way. ‘A boat ride, you may have found an activity I would have enjoyed less than football. You do remember our ill-fated Disney experience on Space Mountain?’

Penny giggled and felt a bit guilty at laughing at the memory. ‘I guess you and rocking boats wouldn’t be a good combination. I can’t say this will be a fun trip with all the people but Sam is gonna be there so I have to go.’

‘That is your physicist friend, is she a fan of boating?’

‘She likes planes a lot more than boats but she can hold her own in one. I was going to ask her if she might like to have a Skype chat with us sometime after we get back to Pasadena. You could get some idea of what she does and, maybe, it might be one of those lines to explore beyond Caltech. She is into some crazy science stuff like you. I have seen some of her white boards and there’s no derivative MIT bathroom scribbling going on as far as I can tell.’ Penny still found that comment from the first day she met Sheldon and Leonard pretty funny.

‘That does sound promising, Penny, at the very least it would be good to meet some of your friends from outside our Pasadena circle.’

They chatted a while longer over tea and coffee. After they finished, Penny and Sheldon drove over to the ferry to Oakland which was what Penny wanted to use to get over to Alameda rather than deal with the bridge. It also let her drop Sheldon off on his first stop, the San Francisco Railway Museum. Sheldon was getting better at reaching for Penny’s hand over the weekend so he decided this day alone needed something a bit more challenging for him. He leaned over to try and kiss Penny’s cheek which worked as planned until Penny turned to say goodbye. They froze with their lips locked unexpectedly. Sheldon was petrified what to do next but Penny softened the kiss and lingered a second before pulling away a tad.

‘I’ll miss you, too, Moonpie.’ Penny smiled and blushed a bit. She was charmed by Sheldon’s fumbling the door to get out of the car.

‘I will miss you, too, Penny.’ Sheldon got out of the car and closed the door. He watched Penny drive away and then his eyes widened in disbelief. It had not occurred to him to tell Penny only Meemaw called him Moonpie. That gave him quite a bit to consider while he walked around the museum’s exhibits.

+++

Saturday Scene: Penny

It had been a busy day for Penny so she was happy when she and Sam finally got to have a quiet moment to sit down to lunch. They'd had enough of all the preparation, checks, and rechecks for the day. They both were eager to catch up on personal stuff after having not seen each other for so long.

‘So, how’s Jack? Is he getting enough fishing in these days?’ Penny was happy to learn her old friends had finally gotten engaged.

Sam rolled her eyes at her fiancé’s hobby. ‘There aren’t enough days in the week for that but he gets his fair share in. I don’t mind going once in a while but he needs the downtime. How about you, are you seeing that Leo guy anymore?’

‘Leo? Oh, Leonard, no he was too needy and the wandering eye was no help either. Besides, he asked too many questions about school, or going out, and mostly about who any lab partners were and why I was spending so much time with them.’

Sam shuddered at the thought. ‘You’re better off without that. Boyfriends that need to know who you’re talking to all the time and why is just bad news. Are you staying in the single life for a while?’

Penny sighed at that and looked around at all the commotion. ‘I don’t see much choice if this all works out. I’d be leaving Pasadena soon, anyway, but…’

Sam perked up at the long pause and wondered if there might be someone else on Penny’s horizon. ‘But? Come on, there’s more to that sentence. Did you find a more interesting lab partner?’

‘Oh, lord, no, though there were one or two guys from the school’s fencing club in my biology class who could fill out a pair of jeans. Have you ever seen the legs and butts on them?’

Sam smiled at some school time memories of her own and nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah, but who’s the ‘butt’ in Pasadena?’

Penny glared at Sam. ‘You’ve been spending too much time with Jack. His jokes are wearing off on you. The who is Leonard’s roommate, Sheldon. We came up here together. I’m not sure what we are right now but he is someone special.’

Sam remembered the guy from Penny’s emails. ‘Isn’t he the one that had that arctic experiment go wrong?’

‘Yeah, but it wasn’t his fault. Leonard sabotaged the results to get back to Pasadena to get it on with me. Another reason I dumped that guy. Sheldon, though, he takes care of his friends even when they hurt him. He’s a pain a lot of the time but you can’t fault his loyalty.’

Sam had read a number of Sheldon’s papers so she had been impressed with his work. The arctic stuff had been a huge surprise after the quality of work that had come before. ‘Jeeze, that’s incredible. I’d have buried the guy. Wow, so this Sheldon, do you think you guys could get serious?’

‘I don’t know? That’s one reason we both came up this way. I was surprised he was thinking of getting more serious. He has some real hang ups about germs, touching, and more quirks than you can shake a stick at but when he’s not being whack-a-doodle-Sheldony he’s pretty OK. He’s a lot better than most guys I’ve dated when he isn’t being a butt-hole.’

Sam could see Penny had it bad. She spent too long circling around Jack and his quirks to not see how much they probably endeared Penny as much as they annoyed her. ‘Give him time, he may surprise you. Are you thinking of him working with us or are you just thinking about dating him?’

Penny shrugged and gave the idea a bit of thought. ‘I think I’d like both but Sheldon is so focused on his work and getting that big Nobel Prize. I think it might be too hard for him to put that on a back burner.’

Sam smiled at Penny’s thoughtful look. ‘He might surprise you. He sounds pretty work-focused but did you expect him to just drive up to San Francisco like this out of the blue? Come on, I think there might be more to the guy than just work on his mind. Just look at how long it took Jack to get around to asking me out. He couldn’t imagine a brainy physicist taking him seriously even though I spent more free time with him than some of the guys I’d been dating. Sheldon might just be looking for the right words and if he’s like Jack they’ll be done in actions not talk.’

‘Yeah, Jack and Sheldon do have that in common. Both of them are more doers than talkers where feelings are concerned.’ Penny had to admit from helping her with her classes to coming up here, Sheldon had been doing a lot of doing for someone who said he didn’t need human interaction to function successfully. She wondered if she should have shown more interest in him from the start instead of wasting so much time on a guy who only wanted pretty arm candy to make him look good.

+++

Saturday scene: Sheldon

Sheldon saw several sights, the best of which involved the street cars that were so famous. He was very indulgent and delighted so much that the reality of it being public transportation never entered his mind. Eventually, he even started thinking of his mother and Meemaw when he passed Old St Mary’s Cathedral. Having an intersection with a church on one corner, a fortune teller on the other reminding him of Penny and a well recommended Chinese restaurant on the third it seemed, as Penny might say, a sign to stop. He could at least fulfill his promise to his mother to visit a church at least once a year with this visit. He texted a few pictures of the church’s exterior and interior with some details of the building’s history. He got a call from her soon after.

‘What in the name of the Lord Jesus are you doing in a Catholic church in San Francisco? Is this because of that whore across the hall from you that broke poor Leonard’s heart?’

Sheldon grimaced at that bit. He had not considered Leonard might have called Texas but, fortunately, he and Penny had turned off their phones up to now. ‘There are several things germane to this situation of which Leonard, no doubt, failed to apprise you of. Before I detail them, I will ask you refrain from disparaging Penny any further. She is not a whore and I will not continue this call if you refer to her in such a disparaging way again.’

He heard Mary groan into the phone. ‘Oh, Lord, my son is sleeping with an actress and living in sin, Leonard said she had tempted you and dragged you to heaven knows where.’

Sheldon sighed and tried to start again. ‘Mother, Penny dragged me nowhere. This trip is a mutual endeavor between us. As far as Leonard is concerned, he has nothing to do with this. Penny broke up with him over three months ago for several valid reasons which even you should respect not least being his roving eye, something which you can ask Missy to confirm. He was sniffing around her anytime she came to Pasadena and readily forgot Penny when Missy was around. In fact, any attractive woman would attract his attention even when he was dating Penny. If you want to know the less than faithful member of that relationship, you should be aware you have been talking to him.’

‘He was trying to get it on with my Missy even after telling me he never had eyes for anyone but Penny?’ Sheldon could hear the change in the tone.

‘Yes, that is just so and Missy can tell you as much. Penny and I wanted to escape Leonard’s interference in our vacation weekend so we traveled out of Pasadena together. Today, she is visiting some friends who are from Nebraska some of whom are researchers in physics like me. Penny is far more than a dumb blonde actress which is little more than Leonard ever saw her as.’ Sheldon had to admit he had often seen her the same way with much chagrin. He wondered if that might be why she wanted this trip. Perhaps, this was her way of saying good bye to him?

‘Well, I never expected such a thing, Shelly. I am sorry I called your little Penny a whore. That was unchristian. And this trip did get you to visit a church and call your mother. Oh Lord, is my Shelly getting serious about a girl? Is that why you are in a church asking for the Lord’s council? I have got to call my prayer group, they’ve gone and got my baby a girl and got him into a church!’ 

Mary hung up without another word and Sheldon was unwilling call her back to revisit that conversation in order to try and correct her misconceived view. Besides, calling Meemaw seemed more important and more helpful. Fortunately, her line was not busy, yet, with his mother calling about the apparent miracle.

‘Moonpie, what has you calling, dear?’ His grandmother’s voice always made Sheldon feel like things would make sense if she explained it and right now he hoped she could make sense of his confusion about Penny.

‘First, because I want to say I love you. Second, because I want to forestall mother calling you with misinformation and wild theories. I am in San Francisco with my neighbor Penny. We came here for the long holiday weekend. She wanted to meet her friends up here because she is planning to leave Pasadena in the near future and these friends are going to help her in that move. She invited me along because she wanted to discuss how our relationship as friends might continue in the wake of her leaving and she has been considering changing our relationship to a dating relationship as have I.’

Fortunately, Constance Tucker was used to Sheldon’s information dumps but this did warrant some careful questioning because Sheldon could be very sensitive about his feelings and this call clearly had some big feelings involved. ‘That’s quite a bit of territory you covered there, Sheldon, so let’s get a few bits cleared up. Penny is the girl that lives across the hall from you. Wasn’t she dating your roommate?’

‘They broke up three months ago, Meemaw, Penny didn’t like Leonard’s pushing his preferences on her and she didn’t like his whining and neediness. She was quite emphatic in her reasons to end that relationship and it has been a most annoying bone that Leonard has gnawed incessantly ever since.’

Constance had met Leonard and she did get the feeling he was not the type to take a break up gracefully so she trusted to Sheldon’s observations on that point. ‘Alright, dear, so you went up to San Francisco so she could meet some of her friends, why aren’t you meeting them with her if they are such a big part of her life?’

‘We agreed to this plan. We wanted a mutual off day so we could engage in activities the other has little interest in. Her Nebraska friends are quite taken with football, horses, and meat products cooked under quite unsanitary conditions. Father and Pop-Pop would have had quite a good time with them had they been able to come along, I don’t doubt. Penny said she didn’t want to ruin my enjoyment of the trains and comic stores here in San Francisco since she has little interest in those things. We did have a delightful time Thursday and Friday and we have several more plans for tomorrow.’

It all sounded like the two had done quite a bit to think of each other’s interests and Constance was happy to hear Penny was looking out for her Moonpie’s happiness on the trip. ‘That all sounds well and good but what is this about dating? Are you thinking of getting serious with this girl?’

‘That is one of the things that she wanted to discuss while we were up here. She has asked about whether I would consider leaving Pasadena but she expressed concern that I be sure I can continue my work. She has a friend in the same field that she is meeting who she said I might like to talk to. This friend also does research on String Theory and Penny thought I would like to meet her. I am concerned that this is Penny’s way of saying good bye because she is uncertain of being able to engage in a dating relationship.’

‘It sounds like Penny is trying to look out for you both. I don’t think she sounds like a girl that wants to say good bye. She sounds more like she wants to ask you to come with her but she’s afraid to get in the way of your work by doing so. She looks out for your likes, and your job, and she’d like you to meet her friends. That isn’t someone looking to just say good bye, Moonpie, that’s someone who doesn’t want to say goodbye, honey. You need to think good and hard about what you are really willing to do and be honest with this girl. I think she is trying to do right by you and you should make sure to do the same for her.’

Sheldon was feeling a lot more grounded about the weekend and what he was doing here with Penny. There was still a lot for them to talk about but he was glad to hear his Meemaw felt there was a chance for him and Penny if they were willing to work for it. ‘Thank you, Meemaw. I will let you know how it goes. I expect mommy to call you soon to give you her version including my being in a church. That was just to fulfill my annual obligation to visit one of these places for her and not to get the Lord’s council or whatever nonsense her prayer group has filled her head with, this week.’

Constance laughed at that and assured Sheldon she’d do what she could to curb Mary’s enthusiasm. They both had a lot of thinking to do about all this and Constance had a bit of hope her Moonpie had found someone to share his life with.

+++

Saturday Evening, Noe’s Nest

Sheldon sat on the Chapeau Room’s bed perusing his comic book purchases. He picked up the copy of the TPB ‘Sword Daughter’ by Brian Wood that he purchased for Penny. She enjoyed historical fiction so he thought she might enjoy this story of a viking’s daughter and her father on a revenge quest in the wake of their home’s destruction. He thought the story’s central theme of an estranged father and daughter reconnecting something she would find relatable. Penny had often talked about how close she had been to her father as a child and how that relationship changed when she grew older. Sheldon had thought, in some ways, Penny’s stories about that change were not unlike the situation between the father and daughter in the graphic novel.

Penny returned to the room around 9pm looking very tired but happy. ‘Hey, Sheldon, you look like you had a successful day.’ Penny put her travel case in the room closet.

‘I did, indeed. Did your friends find your rodeo equipment useful?’ He was wondering why Penny had brought the heavy case back to the room.

‘They loved the equipment, but it wasn’t the right fit. Truth be told, I don’t mind. I like keeping the stuff with me, anyway.’

Penny sat on the bed with Sheldon and looked through the comics and obscure old science fiction novels Sheldon had found in the collector’s shops around the city.

‘I bought a book for you, too, after thinking of your enjoyment of historical fiction.’ Sheldon handed her the copy of Sword Daughter. It is a about a viking’s daughter named Elsbeth Dagsdottir and her father. I thought you might enjoy it in light of your changed relationship with your father growing up. I believe you might find much to relate to in their uneasy relationship in the story.’

‘That’s so sweet, Sheldon, thank you.’ Penny leaned over to Sheldon and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek but then drew back quickly a little shy. They both looked very studiously all of a sudden at their comics remembering their unexpected kiss of this morning. It still surprised Penny how unexpectedly thoughtful Sheldon could be. ‘I’ll look through it after I take a shower. All that time on the salt water with that sun has turned my head into one big, itchy, dry, corn patch.’

Sheldon reached over to the bedside table and picked up a small black shopping bag. ‘I had thought that might happen, so I purchased a remedy for such an eventuality. This is a highly recommended shampoo and conditioner for such an occasion. It has the same scent as your preferred products. I, also, purchased a body wash and moisturizer to go with it. There is also this peppermint oil for scalp massage after drying conditions.’

Penny checked out the products feeling astounded by Sheldon’s purchase for her. ‘What made you think of such a perfect present, Sheldon?’

‘You can thank my sister, Missy. The Texas sun can be very unforgiving to hair, especially in summer. I used to help her by giving her such scalp massages when the weather was particularly harsh on her hair. I would be very happy to provide such a scalp massage for you.’

Penny spent the next hour in the most delightful impromptu body and hair care session she had ever had. To have had all the combing, washing, and massaging done by germaphobic Sheldon Cooper was almost inexpressible. When she got propped up on her pillows with her hair and scalp wrapped up in a warmed towel and the scent of peppermint in the air she felt like a new woman. She shifted back on her pillows enjoying the Charlie Parker jazz music Sheldon opened on his laptop and took a sip of the chamomile tea he made for her. 

Penny took another sip and put the tea down and picked up the Sword Daughter book to read but she was more focused on the sound of Sheldon washing up in the bathroom. She thought back on what Sam had said earlier and their conversation about Jack and Sheldon. The quirky Texan really was a lot like Jack. Sheldon always said a lot more through his actions than most guys ever did who came with a whole lot of talk, like Leonard. She figured Sam was right and she should pay attention to what the guy does a lot more than what he says.

+++


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend is coming to an end soon and Penny and Sheldon spend the day getting closer to each other through Penny's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU inspired by movies and TV shows that will be apparent as we go. Not looking for canon just having fun with Big Bang's toys.

Penny woke up early on Sunday and was she surprised to feel Sheldon had taken hold of her hand while he was asleep. It was quite a step since it had been her wrapped around him seeking out the warmest part of the bed before this. She dallied in between falling back to sleep and waking up, either way she was ready to spend the day right here just like this. When Sheldon woke he felt just as ready to stay snuggled in bed as Penny. He was just as surprised to find his hand in Penny’s without any urge to let her hand go.

‘Morning, sweetie, how are you?’ Penny whispered when she saw Sheldon open his eyes.

‘I am fine but looking at the clock we may soon oversleep breakfast.’

‘Too bad they don’t serve breakfast in bed.’ Penny stretched and yawned and then got up to open the balcony door to let in the morning air.

‘In bed? That is far too unsanitary an eating surface but it would be welcome to have a buffet service sent up to the room.’ Sheldon got up and put on his bathrobe. ‘Shall we hurry to get ready to eat here or shall we take our time and go out for breakfast?’

Penny threw herself back on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. ‘Um gd rt hr’

Sheldon considered what do and he had to admit the scalp massage had been a success in pleasing Penny. Since she was forced to do all the driving, he assumed she was likely to have some upper arm and back strain as a result.

‘Would you like a back massage, Penny?’

Penny rolled over with a look of surprise. ‘That would be great but isn’t that a lot of contact for you, Sheldon?’

‘I was not unduly bothered by last night, I expect to be no more so in doing this. Besides, if we would like to go further in a relationship I am aware that we will engage in more physical touching. I have noted your increased physical affection in the months since you broke up with Leonard and it has not been unwelcome. I believe I should be ready to do the same and physical therapy like this is far less stressful an idea than the usual forms of contact amorous partners engage in.’

Penny chuckled and pulled her shirt off and lay face down on the bed before Sheldon could be shocked at her maneuver. ‘A simple ‘No problem, Penny, works, too, Sheldon.’

‘I believe that is what I said.’ Sheldon got the oil and began working the kinks out in Penny’s back. He knew she worked out with yoga and sports but he had no idea she was in such athletic condition. Penny moaned in delight from his hands working up and down her spine and after some twenty minutes she was feeling far too relaxed to think of moving from the bed. Sheldon let Penny doze and went out to get a takeout breakfast from the Italian restaurant, Fiore Caffe just up the street. When he returned to the room Penny looked like she had twice the energy as usual.

‘Oh, that looks wonderful, Sheldon!’ He had gotten them three-egg spinach omelettes, a large Red Quinoa Salad to share, and fresh yogurt with a mix of seasonal fruits. He got Penny a large cappuccino and orange juice for them both as well as several bottles of water. They dug into breakfast and Penny suggested a change in Sunday plans and asked how he’d feel about going to the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda. Sheldon was thrilled with the idea of visiting the historic aircraft carrier.

‘I had not taken you for a lover of naval history, Penny.’

‘Not everything, but I got interested in Hornet as a kid. I got to come here for the opening with my junior high school history club.’

‘I envy you. Did you get to speak with Buzz Aldrin?’ Sheldon remembered watching the ceremony on TV.

‘I wish, no, I only got to watch him speak. That was cool.’ Penny still felt the excitement of her first time going onboard the aircraft carrier. She was 13 at the time and she had been desperate to go on the trip. She’d spent months soaking up her grandmother’s stories of the war and about her grandparent’s lives back in the 30s and 40s. She couldn’t wait to see a real piece of that era when the school trip had been announced.

While Sheldon brushed his teeth and got ready to go, Penny took a walk down to Anthony’s Cookies for some fresh baked snacks to surprise Sheldon with. She also called ahead to the Hornet Museum and asked about the flight simulator’s availability and got a private reservation for them both as well as a private Docent-led tour to take them through the ship’s many recreated spaces. She figured flying some of the Navy’s historic planes in the simulator and seeing how the carrier functioned section by section would be better than Halo for Sheldon.

+++

The museum tour was more than perfect for Sheldon. He particularly loved the Apollo exhibits and exploring the carrier’s many sections and going over how they operated. The guide was a superb professional who was an historian of Hornet’s service history in particular. The flight simulator was an impossible to express highlight for Sheldon. He couldn’t believe Penny had managed to get them two hours of private reserved time to try out various naval planes. Sheldon was impressed by how well Penny handled the simulations of the WW 2 era Avenger bomber and Corsair fighter in dogfight conditions. 

Penny’s next surprise for Sheldon was the ship’s History Mystery Tour. Sheldon thought the idea of a haunted ship was ridiculous but the opportunity to explore the ship further by night was irresistible. When he learned they had the option to sleep overnight in the crew quarters he grabbed up Penny in a hug and kiss without thinking. The romantic looking hug had several other people on the tour clapping and cheering.

They went to up on the flight deck to watch the sunset and relax while they waited for their night time exploration of the ship. ‘Penny, this has been as wonderful as Disneyland, better, perhaps, since there is no Goofy to terrorize people.’

‘True, and the simulator was so much better than Space Mountain.’ Penny looked down the length of the flight deck to the bow of the ship. ‘Can you imagine the feel of being in a Corsair ready to take off into a battle? Or trying to land that thing with the last light and almost no fuel or visibility? This deck looks so huge down here but from up there in the middle of an empty ocean it’s a small place to call home.’

‘You make it sound like you have been a carrier crew member, is this your psychic side talking or your simulator side?’

‘Maybe both? Let’s go to the tour assembly and find some ghosts, Moonpie!’ Penny grabbed Sheldon’s hand and pulled him along eager for the Night Tour. He was happy to let Penny be the other person who could call him Moonpie.

The tour was fun and Sheldon held back most of his comments on the hokey stories for sake of Penny’s enjoyment. Also, the opportunity to explore the ship further was a great plus for Sheldon in spite of the playing on superstitious fears of dark, unknown places. They didn’t see any ghosts but Sheldon and Penny could believe in the feeling of history all around them, even in the plain utility of the crew bunk rooms and bedding down in a room full of strangers. Listening to the breathing and rustling of bed clothes in the darkness made the ship’s history feel alive again while they recalled the stories they’d heard all day. Sheldon was ready to go to sleep when he saw Penny pull out some very old stationary.

‘What are those letters, Penny, if you don’t mind my asking?’

‘These are some old letters between my grandfather and grandmother. Gramps served in the Pacific in WW2. I brought them with me when I thought of visiting Hornet. It kind of makes him come alive again.’

‘I see, is that where the imagery you expressed on the flight deck came from?’

‘Yeah, I’ll read a bit for you. This one is from just before the Battle of the Coral Sea when he was on Yorktown. ‘My Dearest Jenny, We are in position to face a Japanese strike force. I can’t say where or when because of security but we are ready for the job. I’ll bet you hear a lot of that patriotic talk everywhere. Right now, I don’t feel very patriotic, I feel selfish for leaving you alone to do this job. Much more important than any of this, I want to write to tell you how much I love you and miss you…’

Sheldon and several other guests on the trip followed along with Penny’s letter. They could almost feel the spirits of the ship’s crew members all around them writing and reading their own letters while they listened to Penny read. They heard the voice of a young man in the middle of a long ago war in a room like this trying to tell his new wife how much she meant to him.

+++

In the morning, Sheldon and Penny went back to Noe’s Nest early and were able to catch the breakfast buffet before it ended. That suited them fine since they were toured out by this time. They finished up breakfast and wanted to have tea and coffee out in the garden before they left for Pasadena. The kooky mix of art and flowers all around was oddly similar to their own growing relationship.

There really wasn’t a lot that should go together between them on the surface. Sheldon was hyper rational and tended towards very literal interpretation of everything while Penny was a dreamer and fantasist in many ways with her psychics and art in spite of her newfound science interests. Her going back to school created even more commonalities between them when Penny started seeking out Sheldon’s help on some of her work even if there wasn’t any less bickering. None the less, they kept finding enjoyment in helping each other in their respective interests even when they didn’t always see eye to eye.

‘Where do we go from here, Sheldon?’

‘Back to Pasadena, of course.’ Sheldon wondered if Penny desired to move to San Francisco earlier than he expected. ‘Or does your question refer to your plan to leave Pasadena?’

‘The second, sweetie, I keep thinking about us. Yesterday was wonderful, not just Hornet but especially the little things like the massages and the breakfast. For two people who can argue so much, we do spend a lot of time together really well.’

Sheldon thought about that and agreed but there were things which needed more forthright discussion before they could get anywhere in a relationship together. ‘I believe to move forward in a relationship I would like to understand the purpose of several secretive behaviors you engage in, Penny.’

Penny looked at Sheldon with a grin and chuckle. She had guessed if she ever spent any significant time with Sheldon he’d start putting things together. ‘What secretive behaviors would those be, Sheldon?’

‘First, your wine back home, I have long been concerned with the amount you consume of that low grade plonk so I examined a sample to discover its contents in case of harmful elements beyond the alcohol. I was surprised to find it had none at all and that it was a non-alcoholic wine. I am curious why you would go to the effort to simulate drunkenness? You do that very well, by the way, but that isn’t an actor’s practice you are engaging in, is it?’

‘No, it isn’t for practice, sweetie. It’s for me to blend in, not be noticed. I’m just a would-be actress who drinks too much and thinks too little and can’t get more than crap roles in things like Serial Apeist.’ Penny tried to think of what more she could say without upsetting Sam.

‘Are you in a witness protection program of some kind, Penny?’ That seemed the most logical reason for such long term role playing.

Penny thought about that for a few seconds while she sipped her coffee. A yes would take care of more questions pretty easily but it wouldn’t really help them build a relationship. ‘Not exactly, there’s nothing criminal in my past, other than the night I hotwired Johny Newrich’s car and trashed it about an hour later when I was thirteen. I am supposed to keep a low profile. I really am Penny Queen from Omaha, Nebraska but I’m not really trying to be an actress.’

‘I suspected as much since your classes have surpassed any likely practical use to acting or any tangential field in media like special effects.’ Sheldon accepted that explanation and assumed more details might go against whatever program she was actually in. He wondered if this trip had been part of that program. ‘You mentioned your friend Sam and that she is a physicist. You met her on our private day. Would I be correct to assume there wasn’t any football related hedonism on that day and that you were engaged in some other activity with Sam?’

‘Yeah, we were doing some experimental work but I want us to all talk together. She’s kind of overseeing a project I’m working on. We are friends, we have been for a long time, now, but I can’t tell you much more than that, sweetie. She could give you a better clue about things than I can. She is involved in work that you would understand. She’s read a lot of your String Theory work and she’s pretty impressed with it.’

‘Yes, I expect she would be. There are few who could not be impressed by it.’ Sheldon was glad to know his work was known to Penny’s friend. It would provide a suitable topic of discussion to bridge the secrecy that enshrouded whatever Penny was involved with.

Penny chuckled at the thought of adding another know it all scientist to Sam’s life. ‘I’ll make a call to Sam and set something up. Maybe, she can come down to Pasadena and we can get together?’

Penny and Sheldon headed upstairs to pack and get going back south. Penny got a hold of Sam while they were packing and they decided next Monday would be doable. Sam had a seminar in San Diego on Monday that she was giving a paper to and she figured she could hop on up to Pasadena afterwards and meet them. Penny hung up happy that she might be able to let Sheldon into her life a little more than she was able to at the moment.

+++

They got back home with no trouble. They expected no trouble would start until they ran into Leonard. They got their things back upstairs to the fourth floor and they first went into Penny’s apartment wanting to delay dealing with Penny’s annoying ex-boyfriend. They put her bags in her bedroom and went back out to the living room for some tea and a look at some of their vacation photos. They selected a few to share with everyone when they went over to 4A.

‘The pictures and all are the easy part, sweetie, but what are you comfortable saying about us? They are going to ask and Leonard is going to be a pain, no matter what.’

Sheldon had been giving that very thought consideration. ‘It is difficult to say with clarity since much will depend on our meeting with Sam next Monday.’ 

‘Yeah, I really don’t want to go into explanations about Sam or the stuff we talked about in the garden, today. I told Sam about us thinking of getting together so I had to tell you something, especially after you put things together. I don’t want to get into any of that with the guys over there. They’d just laugh, probably, and that would be fine, but it’s best not to take the chance they start putting two and two together.’ Penny wanted to avoid giving Sam any more headaches than she already had.

‘Also, do we want to broach the issue of you leaving Pasadena? I am inclined to let that dog lie.’

‘I agree about the moving since I don’t want to get into that with Leonard. It’s none of his business or anyone’s business except us. I think it’s easiest to say we wanted to start dating and we went to San Francisco to see if we were really into each other. That really was what we started out doing, anyway.’

‘Yes, sticking to the truth of matters would greatly simplify our explanations. The idea to begin a dating experiment with the San Francisco trip is a natural extension of the Halo debacle of last Wednesday.’ Sheldon was grateful that they could adhere to the strict truth about dating and San Francisco based on past events. He had no illusions about his inability to carry a lie.

‘Well, we definitely need to use our first day in the Chapeau Room pictures, then, we’ll start with them.’

They picked up Sheldon’s bags between them and headed across to 4A. The guys had been hanging out in 4A waiting for Sheldon and Penny to return based on their note from last Thursday. Howard and Raj smiled and waved from the couch happy to see Penny and Sheldon return but Leonard just sat in the easy chair in a surly brown study and barely acknowledged them.

‘Hey guys, we had so much fun!’ Penny rushed to Sheldon’s room with the bags she was carrying and hurried back with her phone and the pictures.

‘Greetings, gentlemen, I hope your long weekend was as fulfilling as the one Penny and I had. I am sure she is ready to bombard you with photos of our journey. I will put my bags down and separate my washables. Penny, please start showing the guys the photos. I believe Raj will love the pictures of our room.’ Sheldon headed off to his bedroom.

‘One room, and did it have one bed?’ Howard had bet Raj that Penny and Sheldon would get separate rooms or at least a room with two beds.

Leonard just sulked and mumbled in his chair.

‘Take a look, Sheldon found the cutest room in all of San Francisco for us. It was in a lovely B&B. Oh God, Raj, Sheldon is right; you are going to love the room he found for us.’ Penny opened the picture file and the Chapeau Room with them in bed was the first picture.

‘Oh, great Krishna, that looks so romantic, that bed in that alcove is perfect for a honeymoon. Did you guys get married up there or something?’ Raj had Penny scroll back and forth through the pictures. He loved the quirky look of the room’s decoration.

Sheldon heard Raj’s question and called out from his room. ‘Why didn’t we think of that? We should have done that; perhaps, we can get married on our next Anything Can Happen excursion, Penny?’

‘We’ll have to get wedding bands first, Moonpie.’ Penny laughed and returned to Raj. ‘No, we didn’t get married but I might have said yes if Sheldon had asked after those massages he gave me. He has the hands of a god.’

‘Please, like I’m going to buy that.’ Leonard mumbled loud enough to be heard but Penny ignored him.

Howard loved the whole look of the B&B. ‘Where is this place? Bernadette would love to go there.’

‘Oh, god yes, she would love this place. It’s called Noe’s Nest. Try to get the View Room. I think she’d like that one a bit more, it has less clutter and a lovely chandelier over the bed.’ Penny swiped through the photos to show Howard the room and she gave him the B&B’s web address. Howard sent the information to Bernadette and he got a text a few minutes later from his wife saying they had to go to this place as soon as possible.

Sheldon came back from his room and Howard turned Sheldon’s spot back over to him while he called Bernadette to talk about going up to Noe’s Nest this coming weekend. ‘Have you shown them the hot racking photos, Penny?’

‘Oh, yeah, we spent the night on USS Hornet. It was so cool; they had a night time tour through the ship and everything.’ Penny scrolled to the Hornet photos and came to one where Penny had gotten Sheldon to get in the bunk with her.

Leonard had finally heard enough. ‘Oh come off it, you guys. Do you expect anyone to believe you two are really dating?’

Sheldon spoke up quickly. ‘We don’t care what anyone chooses to believe, none the less that is why we went to San Francisco, to explore our receptivity to one another. I would say our experiment was a capital success.’ Sheldon turned Penny’s face to his and kissed her very firmly and slowly. Raj smiled and pointed to Howard indicating Howard now owed him on the single bed and who would initiate the first kiss. Howard almost dropped his phone at the sight and nodded to Raj. Leonard just looked shocked and betrayed.

Before anyone could react further, Howard’s phone pinged with a news bulletin from a local channel he followed. ‘Hey, guys, check this out. There’s some hot air balloon accident happening over Brookside Park. The basket has half snapped and there’s a bunch of kids almost falling out!’

Penny turned on the TV and went to the channel but it was almost unnecessary since just about all the main channels were carrying the story live by now. The balloon was still aloft but several support ropes were flying loose on one side leaving the basket dangling free at about a thirty degree angle. It was hard to see details but it looked like no one could get at the valves to release the heated air and get the balloon down to earth. 

Sheldon rushed to his bedroom. Penny got out her phone and started dialing while she left for her apartment. Sheldon came back from his bedroom with his binoculars and telescope. ‘I believe we may be able to see this from the roof.’ Leonard grabbed his laptop so they could follow the reporting and the guys all ran with Sheldon up to the roof.

In 4B, Penny was on the phone with Sam telling her about the news on TV. ‘Yeah, I know Jack will flip his lid, what else am I supposed to do? Just take care of the movers and get the guys in Sheldon’s place across in 4A.’ Penny hung up and went to get out her equipment.

Up on the roof the guys could see the balloon with the telescope and binoculars but it only made them feel more helpless watching the scene like that. They turned at the sound of the roof door banging open.

‘Oh, crap.’ Penny had her hair pulled back in a knot and was dressed in a seamless brown flight suit with attached boots and she was carrying a helmet with faceplate like the Rocketeer’s in the comic books. She had on a rocket-like backpack that looked similar to the one from the comics.

Leonard started laughing. ‘What do you think you’re dressed up for?’

‘Shut up, Leonard.’ Penny put on the helmet and fastened the seal it had to the suit she was wearing. She moved away from the guys and hit a control at her waist. The blast from the jetpack propelled her skywards. The guys, except for Sheldon, all looked like they were about to faint.

‘Great Shiva’s Ghost! Penny is the Rocketeer?’ Raj checked the laptop; some of the news copters were catching Penny’s incoming approach and filming her flight.

Howard followed Penny’s flight with the binoculars. ‘Where did she get something that cool?’

Leonard looked at the sky in the direction Penny flew off to. ‘What? How could Penny be using something like that? She’s just some dumb waitress.’

Sheldon rolled his eyes and trained the telescope on the balloon. ‘Let me catch you up, Lois, Clark Kent is Superman.’

Penny sped towards the balloon but a child holding on fell as she was getting near. She accelerated and plunged downwards catching the young girl who oddly wasn’t even crying while she plummeted along. She clung tightly to Penny and gasped.

Penny arced back up so she could decelerate and land on a park pathway. She handed the girl to an astonished woman standing with her dog and took off again. The girl laughed and waved at her flying rescuer. ‘Wow, she’s a girl!’

Penny zoomed back up to the balloon and grabbed the free flying ropes. The basket needed to be reattached before more ropes let go. She was able to thread the ropes over the supports to the basket and back down to the air heater. She was able to uncouple the heater from the basket and the angle it sat at made it slide out and fall. It dropped down and its weight acted as a counterweight that pulled the basket back up enough so no one else could fall out. 

She got in the basket and found the operator unconscious. The kids said he smacked his head on the heating machine when the ropes broke. Penny pulled the air release that put the balloon into a safe descent to the park below. She handed one of the calmer boys the altimeter attached to her left wrist and had him call out the descent to help calm the kids. The boy was the falling girl’s brother and he asked what happened to his sister, Valerie. She told them all that Valerie was safe on the ground and the kids all cheered. The balloon landed a few minutes later and Penny got everyone out. 

Penny saw the crowd of people running fast towards them so she got her altimeter back, said good bye to the kids and took off before anyone could get closer. She out raced the traffic helicopters trying to follow her easily but she couldn’t go back to the apartment anymore after that exit. Sam would take care of everything at that end but she would have hell to pay when she got back to base. They could scream and yell all they wanted. Heck, they could take the project from her, not that that would work since she had built the jetpack and had the plans in her head, but those kids were all the answer she needed to face the consequences when she landed.

+++


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny tells Sheldon how it all started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by movies and TV which should be apparent by the end.
> 
> Not looking for canon just fun with the characters Big Bang owns. And others, too.

Sheldon and the guys grabbed up their equipment and ran back downstairs to follow more of the news on the larger TV screen about Penny saving the kids in the balloon. They watched the recorded footage of the balloon land and saw Penny take off again when the apartment’s power abruptly cut off. They also found their phones, laptops, and desktops unpowered in spite of battery backup. They had no idea how any of that happened but before they could dwell on that several men in military camo gear burst into the apartment and began seizing them and handcuffing them except for Sheldon who seemed, oddly enough, almost to be ready for this event. 

Leonard started complaining loudly only to be told he would be gagged and sedated if he didn’t cooperate. They were more surprised by what was happening in 4B. Across the hall, they could see a number of other military personnel starting to pack up Penny’s apartment. There were already several men and women carrying boxes from Penny’s apartment and down to the garage. The military personnel led the guys downstairs while several others started gathering up the phones, computer equipment, and other electronic gear in 4A.

Howard was starting to worry what might happen next. ‘What do you suppose Penny is connected to for these guys to show up so fast?’

Raj shrugged his shoulders as they were all ushered into a nondescript grey van and driven off. ‘I don’t know. I wonder if she’s working for them or if they are trying to find her and she is making an escape?’

Leonard was too busy being outraged to think. ‘What could Penny have to do with any of this? How could she even have something like that jetpack? These guys can’t think we had anything to do with it, can they?’

Sheldon shook his head at Leonard’s mental myopia. ‘Leonard, Penny is very likely deeply involved with these people and has been for some time.’

The guys all stared at Sheldon like he had grown two heads. Howard wondered what Sheldon might know. ‘What are you talking about, Sheldon? Penny has been an actress and waitress for years. How could she be connected with any of this?

Leonard couldn’t believe any of it at all. ‘Yeah, what could a drunk, half-assed actress know about any of this?’

Sheldon almost felt too annoyed to explain the situation to Leonard. ‘She is an exceptional actress, Leonard, as evidence, she has been an active part in developing a remarkable jetpack all the while seeming to have little more knowledge than a high school graduate. None the less, she is doing coursework at a graduate level had you bothered to pay attention to her classes instead of her lab partners. As to the drinking, she has never been drunk a day that we have known her.’

Raj laughed in surprise intuiting Sheldon’s observation of Penny’s drinking. ‘The wine is a non-alcoholic wine. No wonder it was all she ever drank, and she would never let anyone else touch it, either.’

Sheldon nodded. ‘Exactly, Raj, Penny has wanted everyone to think she was a failing actress with little education and less ambition.’

Howard suddenly remembered all the quizzes and class work Penny was taking. ‘All that math stuff she had, they all were related to that thing’s development. She was using us like her own research team and we never suspected a thing. No wonder she hardly ever made a mistake when she asked me to check her homework. She always sounded so ditzy it never occurred to me to ask what she was doing with work that advanced.’

Leonard was still deep in denial. ‘Come on, how could Penny be, what, some kind of genius inventor like Tony Stark? You guys are crazy.’

Raj just laughed at Leonard. ‘Dude, Penny took off with a jetpack right in front of your eyes. That was soon followed by a home invasion and incarceration for us right out of the X-Files. We’re going to be lucky if we don’t disappear permanently.’

Leonard kept arguing with Raj and Howard over what was really going on but Sheldon just sat back and ignored them. He had taken note that he hadn’t been handcuffed like the others. He suspected why and that it involved Penny and her wanting him to get to know her friends from San Francisco. He postulated the trip to San Francisco might have been some sort of fuel and or flight test done at sea since Alameda did have a significant naval yard and Penny had said she spent her day at sea. Her rodeo equipment she’d brought to San Francisco was, very likely, really the jetpack. 

Sheldon thought they might be going to San Francisco until the van came to a halt and the engine was shut off. Soon after, they felt the van going down in a quick descent by their ears popping. It had entered some sort of freight or vehicle elevator, likely on a military base. The van drove forward a few seconds more and came to a stop. The doors were opened and Sheldon saw a very unlikely face, Penny’s ex-boyfriend, Kurt. He was dressed in an Air Force captain’s uniform and insignia. Sheldon guessed Penny’s involvement in this must have gone back some considerable time from his presence.

Leonard laughed at the sight of Penny’s meathead ex-boyfriend. ‘Come on, you can’t be some kind of officer, you can barely string a grammatical sentence together.’

Kurt didn’t even seem to notice Leonard’s presence much less his comments. ‘Gentlemen, please follow the guards to the conference room where you will be questioned and debriefed.’ Kurt left them with four very tall and professional MPs who led them to the conference room. They were all wondering what they would be conversing about. The handcuffs were removed when they got to the plain white conference room. The room had a simple wooden table in the center of the room with chairs enough for about ten people. They sat at the table in the conference room and tried to pay little mind to Leonard’s complaining while they waited for what came next. Kurt came into the room and sat opposite of the guys with three folders that he placed in front of Leonard, Raj, and Howard.

‘Gentlemen, inside you will find a confidentiality agreement which swears you to silence about all that you have seen today. Ms. Queen is a struggling actress who has returned to Nebraska having given up her goal of acting. You have not seen any jetpack nor have you seen Ms. Queen in connection with it. You do not know where in Nebraska she has gone since she has decided not to live with her family for the time being. Everything is detailed in the folders. Read the documents carefully and sign the papers where indicated.’

Leonard tossed the folder back at Kurt. ‘I’m not signing anything, Kurt. And, I’m not taking this seriously. I want to talk to Penny and get to the bottom of this joke.’

‘Mr. Hofstadter-‘

‘Professor or Doctor Hofstadter to you, Kurt.’ Leonard wanted to throw his professional weight around.

Kurt didn’t respond to Leonard but just turned to Sheldon, instead. ‘Dr. Cooper, we are aware you helped save your roommate from the consequences of his involvement with the North Korean spy, Joyce Kim, and of his almost selling valuable information and resources to an enemy state. Would you be so good as to explain to him the gravity of the situation he is in as a result, especially in light of this new security situation?’

‘Try talking to me, Kurt, I’m sitting right here!’ Leonard was becoming very frustrated, especially because he saw Howard and Raj sign the papers in their folders after Kurt mentioned Joyce Kim.

Sheldon glared at Leonard. ‘You are at the end of your rope, Leonard. The captain has just told you they know about Joyce Kim. You do remember her, don’t you? The North Korean spy you tried impressing by stealing classified rocket fuel for? If you are not very careful, you are likely to disappear to a place that would make Gitmo look like Club Med.’

Kurt took the files that Howard and Raj handed back to him. ‘Gentlemen, you will be taken to the canteen where you may get something to eat. It is possible you may get further documents that will include ‘Professor’ Hofstadter in the never seen since today column.’ Howard and Raj paled at that and followed the two guards Kurt signaled to take them to the canteen.

Sheldon spoke up while Howard and Raj were leaving. ‘Captain, I have not been given any papers at all. What is the disposition of my situation in all this?’

Kurt sighed and turned back to Sheldon. ‘I apologize, Dr. Cooper, I had hoped your presence would help in getting all your friends to comply with the security agreements but that is my responsibility to take care of. You are free to go.’ Kurt got up and instructed the remaining guards to keep Leonard here. ‘I’ll bring you to the answer to your disposition. I will return here later to explain to the ‘professor’ the wisdom of signing the papers in his folder. I am sure he will begin to see reason when he has had some time alone to reflect on the matter.’

‘Hey, where are you going? Where’s Penny? What is-’ Leonard’s questions were cut off by the closing door of the conference room.

Sheldon and Kurt left Leonard to lather over the situation he was in and walked down the hall to an elevator that descended a couple of floors. They walked down another hall and came to a door which Kurt said was the project specialist’s office. Sheldon was curious to know something before he met the project specialist. ‘You were never Penny’s boyfriend, were you?’

Kurt smiled and nodded. ‘You’re right. I've been her liaison for the last eight years. The boyfriend thing was just a cover story. I would like to apologize for the pantsing, sir, just doing my job.’

Sheldon shook Kurt’s hand. ‘You do it well, Kurt, you might try acting yourself.’

‘No thanks, Sheldon, going on stage like that would scare the hell out of me.’ Kurt said his goodbyes and went back to handle Leonard.

Sheldon went into the office and to no great surprise, at this point, found Penny. She was dressed in a thin black sweater and pants. The office had quite a bit of drafting equipment, several computers, one of which had the conference room he’d been in on its monitor. Penny came out from behind the desk she sat at and asked Sheldon to come sit with her on the couch next to the wall.

‘Sheldon, I’m sorry, this isn’t how I wanted this to go.’ Penny fidgeted a bit not sure what to say beyond that.

Sheldon joined Penny on the couch. He was confused but he wasn’t angry like Leonard or especially surprised like Howard and Raj. He knew her secrecy had been a security concern after their talk in San Francisco but why had she dropped into their lives? ‘How long has all his been going on, when did you start being a rocket scientist?’

‘It started when I was twelve building that tractor. The engine block got out of hand and dropped on an old trap door we never used. It had been locked for ages so no one bothered with it. The engine broke the lock on the door so when I got the engine off it I went to take a look at what was down there. I found the jetpack, the one my maternal grandfather, Cliff Secord and his pal, Peevy, used back in the 40s.' Penny remembered how amazed she was finding the jetpack and figuring out what it was. She still felt the weight from trying the heavy rocket on after it had lain there for decades and standing there in a daydream she knew she had to make real.

'My grandmother Jenny had moved back to her family’s farm and she put the jetpack and the plans Peevy had made down there when gramps joined the war. I guess they left it there because it was Peevy that was the mechanical genius. He passed away while gramps was in the Pacific. You know, gramps was a fighter pilot on Hornet, Moonpie? I love going there with grandma’s letters sometimes. Anyway, he could never get it working again and grandma was happy to see her Cliff stop trying to get himself killed with the thing. After I found the jetpack, my grandma used to talk about their days when gramps was the Rocketeer. She did warn me against trying to play with it, not that she had to since it was pretty rusted and corroded by the 90s.’

Penny went over to the drafting board and came back with some very old drafting pages. They were the original plans that Peevy had used for his redesign. ‘Her warning didn’t really take. The thing fascinated me and with the plans and the Peevy’s original model, it became something of a teenage obsession. I was sixteen before I got the jetpack rebuilt and working. Fifty years of technological improvement made rebuilding it easier than in Peevy and gramp’s day. I managed some improvements on the design, especially the flight controls.' Penny pointed out the changes from the original and Sheldon was impressed with the innovations in design compared to the original.

'Fuel was the real issue but I was able to adapt some plane engine fuel. That concoction was probably more dangerous than Leonard's fuel idea. It almost burned the pack out but it flew. I almost killed myself, too, and it scared the hell out of the guys on the Air Force base I landed on. I was lucky they got more interested in the jetpack than arresting me. They had a hard time believing I built the pack but I convinced them in the end and I had the plans in my head and bigger ideas for the original so they let me develop the jetpack further. That was about eight years ago.’

Penny waved her hands around the office. ‘That’s how I met my friend, Sam; she’s the one in charge of the jetpack’s development. If it wasn’t for her, I’d have never gotten the chance to continue with the jetpack. She and Jack got me the resources to do all this. They wanted my flight system for use in their program. I moved to JPL to finish up the modern prototype. Kurt came with me to act as security. He’s been looking out for me ever since I landed on that Air Force base. The ex-boyfriend thing was the cover story we came up with when I moved into our building.’

Sheldon was amazed at the story Penny related. ‘Why did you wait so long to tell me all this? Was it because of the security issues?’

Penny nodded in affirmation. ‘Yeah, they really did know about Leonard early on and they wanted me out of Los Robles as soon as they found out he was my neighbor. I told them I needed to be around here and having a bunch of Caltech scientists next door was a help from time to time on a few problems. That’s why I played the ditzy actress with a drinking problem. It was too keep you guys from figuring out about any of this. You were the one I was worried about, Sheldon, from the second I saw that beautiful mind white board of yours. I figured you would put everything together. You practically did with the way you kept track of my coming and going. I thought dating Leonard might throw you off the scent and it worked for a while but that couldn’t last. You were right about the derivative work and he’s way too needy and whiny. Of course, you started putting everything together once we went to San Francisco.’

Sheldon snorted in amusement. ‘That explains the jetpack and you but it doesn’t explain us. I understand why you had to be so unclear about our relationship ever going forward and why you were trying to explore ways I might leave Caltech to join you, but Penny, I am not a rocket scientist. You would do better to get Howard. Your jetpack is far more his field of expertise. What would you need a theoretical physicist for? And, what would you need me for?’

Penny looked sad at Sheldon and hoped the secrecy hadn’t damaged the relationship they had started building. ‘There are plenty of rocket scientists in the Air Force, no, that’s not the problem. I do want us to move forward. I am serious about us upgrading our relationship.’ 

Penny slid over on the couch and held Sheldon’s hand. ‘I hardly ever got to know anyone I dated. I always had to drop things before someone could find out too much about what I was doing. Heck, Leonard was probably the longest I dated anyone and that was because he never thought about me as anything but some pretty blonde airhead actress he could have sex with. When it came time to start wrapping up the JPL work, I broke up with him but we had become friends, Moonpie, and I didn’t want to lose you. When we went up to San Francisco, I wasn’t sure about a real dating thing but I became sure it was something I wanted while we were up there. I think it was the scalp massage. Sam always said to pay attention to how the guys act and not to what they say. You always acted like the best guy I ever knew when it counted, Sheldon.’

‘Penny, while I was in San Francisco on Saturday, I thought a great deal about upgrading our relationship. I even spoke with Meemaw about things because I was too unsure about everything. I thought you really were trying to say goodbye to me with our trip up there. She helped me see that you were trying to do anything but say goodbye. You were also doing more doing than talking by being concerned for my career and my life. She said I should think hard about what I really wanted and to be honest with you.’ Sheldon braced himself and abandoned thinking about the possible germs. He bent forward and kissed Penny. They lingered there in a soft meeting of breath and nothing mattered anymore except that they had found each other.

They drew away from the kiss when they heard a knock on the door. A blonde woman poked her head in and smiled. ‘Hey, guys, I hope I’m not interrupting, am I?’

Penny smiled and shrugged. ‘Well, to be honest, Sam… but it’s OK, come on in. Sheldon, this is my friend, Samantha Carter. She’s the brainy physicist I wanted you to meet.’

Sheldon and Penny got up from the couch and said hello to Sam. She was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and black pants and boots like Penny. ‘Hello, Samantha, Penny has told me you have an interest in String Theory. Are you another researcher here?’

Sam grinned at Penny. ‘He is just as direct as Jack, more polite, though. Please, Sheldon, just call me Sam.’

Penny rolled her eyes. ‘Give him time; the Jack-ness will come through loud and clear, soon enough.’

‘Is this a favorable or unfavorable comparison, Penny?’

Sam hoped she wasn’t ruffling any feathers since she was sure from the blushing when she came in that she had interrupted something. ‘I hope it’s favorable, Jack is my fiancé. We work up in Colorado but he’s more of a manager than a researcher.’

‘A manager and maker of chaos.’ Penny gave a small laugh at Sam’s shrug of acceptance at that. ‘You see, Sheldon, Sam’s an air force colonel and she works on some pretty advanced stuff with String Theory and wormholes and the like.’

Sheldon was intrigued by the nature of Sam’s work and wanted to hear more. ‘Some of my research has dwelt on those concepts but why would you also be building jetpacks? Is there a Starship Enterprise in orbit as well?’

Penny and Sam started laughing at that. ‘You are so right, Penny. Jack and Sheldon are going to get along, alright. No, there’s no starship named Enterprise, and that upsets Jack, too. I think things will be clearer if we take a trip up to Colorado.’

‘What is in Colorado that would make things clearer, Penny?’

Sam and Penny looked at each other and chuckled. Penny hugged Sheldon and smiled. ‘You are going to have to see it to believe it, Moonpie.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the folks who made The Rocketeer and Stargate:SG1

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatching some old movies and TV shows i got the idea for this. They may become apparent before the end.


End file.
